Because of her outstanding contribution to contemporary sculpture, Otobong Nkanga has received the Nasher Prize. The Nigerian-Belgian artist will receive $100,000 and an exhibition at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, Texas in 2025.
Since 2015, the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, Texas, has awarded the Nasher Prize, which carries a $100,000 prize. Now, Nigerian-Belgian artist Otobong Nkanga (b. 1974) received the award, which comes with a solo exhibition at the museum in two years. In explaining why, Director Jeremy Strick said: »The work of Otobong Nkanga makes manifest the myriad connections—historical, sociological, economic, cultural, and spiritual— that we have to the materials that comprise our lives. Delving deeply into the variegated meanings these materials take on, Nkanga’s work makes clear the essential place of sculpture in contemporary life.«
Nkanga is the first winner of the new biennial format. This change was made to give the laureates more time to prepare new works and the museum more time to produce a printed monograph. The nine-member jury this year included Pablo León de la Barra, a curator at the Guggenheim New York; Rashid Johnson, U.S. artist; and Yuko Hasegawa, director of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa.
Since 2019, artist Christiane Fleissner has been pursuing her artistic research project About a Moment. Her perception of space and time during climbing tours in the Alps forms the basis for her collages and photographic sculptures: they question the linear progression of time.
A painting in oil on wood has once again been attributed to Peter Paul Rubens: The Death of Adonis (1639) received the reassessment from the Princeton University Art Museum, which has owned the work for nearly 100 years. Since the mid-20th century, there had been doubts about the attribution.
With 177 invited galleries, this year's Art Brussels is celebrating its 40th edition. The extensive program with current themes ranges from digital art, painting and photography to art in public space. The fair opens on April 25 in Halls 5 and 6 of the Brussels Expo.
Australia wins the Golden Lion for the best pavilion, the Mataaho Collective from New Zealand the one for the main exhibition: the awards fit in with the Biennale's concept of giving indigenous art the attention it deserves.
