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Associated Press
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
HIGH MUSEUM OF ART NAMES ALISON SAAR RECIPIENT OF 2025 DAVID C. DRISKELL PRIZE
Saar to be honored at 20th annual Driskell Prize Gala on Sept. 20, 2025, with John Legend set to perform ATLANTA, May 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The High Museum of Art today announced artist Alison Saar as the 2025 recipient of the David C. Driskell Prize in recognition of her contributions to the field of African American art. Saar will be honored at the 20th annual Driskell Prize Gala at the High on Saturday, Sept. 20, at 6:30 p.m., featuring a performance by EGOT-winning, critically acclaimed, multiplatinum musician John Legend. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the $50,000 prize demonstrates the High's ongoing dedication to furthering artistic innovation and promoting research of African American artists and scholars. The announcement took place during an exclusive event hosted by The Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York City during New York Art Week. Saar, based in Los Angeles, is widely celebrated for her sculpture, installation and mixed-media works, which tell stories about the African American experience through references to American history, literature and mythology. Her works have been featured in hundreds of solo and group exhibitions worldwide, including at the High, which presented one of her first solo museum exhibitions, 'Fertile Ground,' in 1993. She has work in collections at renowned institutions including the High, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Whitney Museum of American Art, among many others. In 2024, she was selected by the International Olympic Committee and the city of Paris to create 'Salon,' a sculpture commissioned in honor of the 2024 Olympic Games, which is now permanently displayed in the Charles Aznavour Garden on the Champs-Élysées. Her installation 'Soul Service Station' was featured as part of Desert X 2025 in Coachella Valley, California. 'Saar's work delves deeply into the histories of the African diaspora and its artistic traditions, exploring how they influence and connect to cultural identity today. Her sculpture 'Tobacco Demon' has been a fixture in our galleries for decades,' said High Museum of Art Director Rand Suffolk. 'We are honored to recognize her distinguished practice and myriad contributions to African American art with the 2025 Driskell Prize.' Established by the High in 2005, the Driskell Prize is the first national award to celebrate a scholar or artist whose work makes an original and significant contribution to the field of African American art or art history. It was named for the renowned African American artist and scholar David C. Driskell, whose work on the African diaspora spanned more than four decades. Over its 20-year history, the Driskell Prize has recognized artists including Ebony G. Patterson (2023), Amy Sherald (2018), Mark Bradford (2016) and Rashid Johnson (2012). Proceeds from the Driskell Gala support the David C. Driskell African American Art Acquisition Restricted and Endowment funds, which have supported the acquisition of 52 works by African American artists for the High's collection since the prize's inception. The selection process for the 2025 recipient of the Driskell Prize began with a call for nominations from a national pool of artists, curators, teachers, collectors and art historians. Saar was chosen from among these nominations by review committee members assembled by the High: artist and 2006 Driskell Prize recipient Willie Cole; Dr. Kellie Jones (2005 Driskell Prize recipient and professor in art history and archaeology and the Institute for Research in African American Studies at Columbia University); and two High Museum of Art curators, Kevin W. Tucker (chief curator) and Maria L. Kelly (assistant curator of photography). 'I am honored to have been chosen as the 2025 recipient of the David C. Driskell Prize,' said Saar. 'At a time when many of the civil rights milestones achieved by previous generations—by our mothers and grandmothers—are being threatened or dismantled, the Driskell Prize empowers Black artists and art historians to push back. When our art is removed from museum exhibitions or our shows are canceled, this prize offers not only validation, but also the support to continue making work that is courageous and truthful work that is often stifled by the limitations of mainstream institutions.' In addition to the Driskell Prize, Saar has received many other grants and awards, including an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Art (2018), an Excellence in Design Award from the New York City Art Commission (2005) and numerous art fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, among others. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Scripps College (Claremont, California) and her Master of Fine Arts degree from the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles. The 2025 Driskell Prize Gala Chair is Charlene Crusoe-Ingram. Those interested in tickets for the formal gala may email [email protected]. About the David C. Driskell Prize Established by the High in 2005, the David C. Driskell Prize is the first national award to honor and celebrate contributions to the field of African American art and art history. Past recipients include Naomi Beckwith (2024), Ebony G. Patterson (2023), Adrienne L. Childs (2022), Jamal D. Cyrus (2020), Dr. Huey Copeland (2019), Amy Sherald (2018), Naima J. Keith (2017), Mark Bradford (2016), Kirsten Pai Buick (2015), Lyle Ashton Harris (2014), Andrea Barnwell Brownlee (2013), Rashid Johnson (2012), Valerie Cassel Oliver (2011), Renee Stout (2010), Krista A. Thompson (2009), Xaviera Simmons (2008), Franklin Sirmans (2007), Willie Cole (2006) and Dr. Kellie Jones (2005). A cash award of $50,000 accompanies the prize. Proceeds from the High's annual Driskell Prize Gala support the David C. Driskell African American Art Acquisition Restricted and Endowment funds and other ongoing African American initiatives and expenses associated with the David C. Driskell Gala. The current balance of the David C. Driskell African American Art Acquisition Endowment Fund is $2 million. Through the David C. Driskell African American Art Acquisition Restricted Fund, the High has acquired works by artists including Radcliffe Bailey, Romare Bearden, Mark Bradford, Nick Cave, Willie Cole, William Downs, Rashid Johnson, Kerry James Marshall, John T. Scott and Renee Stout. About David Driskell David Driskell (American, 1931-2020) was an artist and scholar whose work on the African diaspora spanned more than four decades. The High's relationship with Driskell began in 2000 when the museum presented the concurrent exhibitions 'To Conserve a Legacy: American Art from Historically Black Colleges and Universities' and 'Narratives of African American Art and Identity: The David C. Driskell Collection,' which examined African American art in the broad historical context of modern and contemporary art. In 2021, the High organized the survey exhibition 'David Driskell: Icons of Nature and History,' which traveled to the Portland Museum of Art and The Phillips Collection after its presentation at the High. Born in Eatonton, Georgia, Driskell became a distinguished professor emeritus at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he established The David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Howard University in 1955 and his Master of Fine Arts degree from the Catholic University of America in 1962. He also attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine in 1953 and studied art history at the Netherlands Institute for Art History in The Hague, Netherlands, in 1964. More information about Driskell is available at About the High Museum of Art Located in the heart of Atlanta, the High Museum of Art connects with audiences from across the Southeast and around the world through its distinguished collection, dynamic schedule of special exhibitions and engaging community-focused programs. Housed within facilities designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects Richard Meier and Renzo Piano, the High features a collection of more than 20,000 works of art, including an extensive anthology of 19th- and 20th-century American fine and decorative arts; major holdings of photography and folk and self-taught work, especially that of artists from the American South; burgeoning collections of modern and contemporary art, including paintings, sculpture, new media and design; a growing collection of African art, with work dating from prehistory through the present; and significant holdings of European paintings and works on paper. The High is dedicated to reflecting the diversity of its communities and offering a variety of exhibitions and educational programs that engage visitors with the world of art, the lives of artists and the creative process. For more information about the High, visit Media contact: Marci Tate Davis Manager, Public Relations [email protected] 404-733-4585 View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE High Museum of Art
Forbes
27-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
The 'X' Factor: DesertX 2025, Coachella Valley, CA
Outdoor artworks, land art, site-specific installations speak to a tradition that exists outside museums and galleries, that is accessible and available to all willing to travel to a given destination, and which in many cases intervene in complimentary and contrasting ways with the environment. DesertX 2025, taking place in the Coachella Valley (i.e. the greater Palm Springs area) March 8 through, May 11, features 11 artists who have created work for specific locations throughout the valley. Downloading the DesertX app gives you info locations and driving directions to each. Susan Davis, is the founder and President of DesertX and this year's co- curators are Neville Wakefield and Kaitlin Garcia-Maestas. The corporate sponsor is Jose Cuervo's 1800 Tequila (and there will be a DesertX Mexico). The eleven artists featured in this year's iteration are a very diverse group that includes Agnes Denes, 94 years young, and Sara Meyohas, 33 years old, as well as Sanford Biggers, Alison Saar, Jose Davila, Cannupa Hanska Luger, Raphael Hefti, Kimsooja, Ronald Rael, Muhannad Shono, and Kapwani Kiwanga. This is the fifth iteration of DesertX. Everyone still talks about Doug Aitken's 2017 Desert X installation, Mirage, a mirrored house. Other memorable works from Past Desert X are Nancy Cahill Baker's Augmented Reality installation in 2019 and Gerald Clarle's 2023 installation. This year's DesertX may be the best yet. On opening weekend when I visited not all the artworks were open to the public yet (they probably all are by now). Installation view Alison Saar, Soul Service Station, DesertX 2o25 What were my favorites? Alison Saar's Soul Service Station is a remarkable artwork. It looks like a Depression-era gas station of the American West and is filled with reclaimed tin tiles and other items and materials. School children from throughout the Coachella Valley were engaged to create their own devotional objects for the interior of the station (introducing them to artmaking). installation view of Soul Service Station by Alison Saar, DesertX 2025 Inside stands a life-sized hand-carved guardian of the station in service station overalls. Saar's recent sculptures have explored violence against women and the legacy of slavery. On occasion, her sculptural figures such as Topsy, have been fearsome and rage-bearing. However, Soul Service Station is meant as an oasis, a figure of pride, strength, and joy. Outside the station there is a gas pump. Rather than the expected gas pump filler neck, there is an item in the shape of a conch shell. When you place it next to your ear, you hear a blues poem sung by the Los Angeles based poet Harryette Mullen. Soul Service station is a must-see and I truly hope that, post-Desert X, it finds a permanent home. Soul Service Station was also sponsored by the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation. On site at the press preview was Kimberly Davis of Saar's gallery LA Louver who believes it will happen. intallation view of Sarah Meyohas' Truth Speaks in Slanted Beams, DesertX 2025 Sarah Meyohas' installation, Truth Arrives in Slanted Beams, uses a caustic spiral that leads from the road into the desert and then rises and falls looking like a piece of the Guggenheim Museum sunk in sand. The bends in the caustic creation surround desert plants. There are also reflectors that can be moved but that project words from the poetic phrase, Truth Arrives in Slanted Beams. Jacob Jonas dance troupe, The Company, DesertX 2025, activation at artwork by Sarah Meyohas At the press review, there was an activation at Meyohas' installation by the Jacob Jonas dance group, The Company. The dancers led in a file to the sculpture and moved around it doing a series of movements from Jonas' athletic, kinetic, dance vocabulary. It was a great collaboration (I know it was filmed – perhaps it could be an AR enhancement during the exhibition?). Regardless, the artwork stands on its own (literally and metaphorically) and is everything one hopes to find in a DesertX installation. The Living Pyramid by Agnes Denes, DesertX 2025 Agnes Denes' The Living Pyramid is the centerpiece at Sunnylands, the former Annenberg home in Rancho Mirage turned museum and conference center. It is a very large construction of terraces filled with live native plants. So although the form of the sculpture is constant, how it looks is constantly evolving and changing. At the press preview, Denes made the statement (via a filmed segment) that, 'My pyramids are an optimistic edifice in the time of turmoil.' As a further explanation, Denes says in the exhibition publication that 'art exists in a dynamic, evolutionary world where objects are processes and forms are dynamic patterns, where measure and concepts are relative, and reality is forever changing.' Part of the experience, and the fun of Desert X, is driving around searching for the artworks. Waze and the DesertX app led me on drives through parts of the valley I'd never seen, including high mountain roads, and old downtowns in Desert Hot Springs and corners and canyons I'd never been to before. Installation view Sanford Biggers, DesertX 2025 The other artworks I saw included: Sanford Biggers whimsical clouds that appear in the sky in Palm Springs; Jose Davila's uncanny marble blocks that make you think you are walking in a Roman ruin; Raphael Hefti's simple and elegant work, in a horizontal material is stretched across a canyon so that it twists in the wind and reflects light at different places when it does; Ronald Rael who used a solar-powered robot to 3D print an adobe maze making a statement about the marriage of indigenous knowledge and current tech in ways that are cheap and environmentally sound; and Cannupa Hanska Lugerm who created a nomadic desert vehicle and mobile home as part of a post-apocalyptic futurist narrative, which will see the vehicle exhibited at three different locations in the Coachella Valley. There are always plenty of reasons to go out to Palm Springs and other destinations in the Coachella Valley. DesertX 2025, however, presents a different way to experience the landscape, support not just the land but the people and the artisans who live there, You Should you want to support DesertX, there are ways to get involved and be a sponsor or donor or make a tax-deductible contribution. And, yes, there is also Merch, very cool T-shirts, hoodies, stickers etc…. If Art is about seeing, then DesertX 2025 challenges us to think about the desert, its past, its future, the wind, the ground, the indigenous plants, and ourselves and the world in new ways.
