Programs » Awards for Distinction
Artist Award for a Distinguished Body of Work
The Artist Award for a Distinguished Body of Work, first presented in 1988, is a peer award given to an artist for exceptional work through exhibitions, presentations, or performances. This award is presented to a living artist of national or international stature and must tie them to an exceptional recent exhibition.
2023 WINNER
Dawoud Bey
Dawoud Bey has a photographic career spanning four decades, beginning in 1975 with the seminal five-year portrait project of everyday life in Harlem. His work has recently traveled in a retrospective titled An American Project” at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and co-organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art. In his recent publication, Dawoud Bey: Two American Projects, his work explores race, African American history and underrepresented communities; featuring portraits memorializing the six children who were victims of the Ku Klux Klan’s bombing at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, and a group of black-and-white landscapes made in Ohio where the Underground Railroad once operated. In the 1980s Bey collaborated with artist David Hammons by documenting the performances Bliz-aard Ball Sale and Pissed Off. In 2017 he received the MacArthur Fellowship and is Professor of Photography at Columbia College Chicago where he has taught for over twenty years. Bey’s work is in permanent collections of leading museums, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Jury members:
Derek G. Larson, Purdue University, Chair
Stephen Fakiyesi, Independent Artist
Jessica Hong, Art Museum
PAST WINNERS
In the twenty-two years since the Artist Award for a Distinguished Body of Work was first presented, the majority of recipients have been women. Four of the first five—Elizabeth Murray, Howardena Pindell, Rachel Rosenthal, and Ann Hamilton—are women, as are seven recent winners, which include Yoko Ono, Mary Heilmann, Lynda Benglis, Adrian Piper, and Elaine Sturtevant. Other recipients of the award include Bruce Nauman, Nam June Paik, and Fred Wilson.
2022 Kent Monkman
Jury: Beauvais Lyons, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, chair; Jessica S. Hong, Hood Museum of Art; and Stephen Fakiyesi, Independent Artist, Toronto.
2021 Maren Hassinger
Jury: Beauvais Lyons, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Jessica S. Hong, Hood Museum of Art; Helen O’Toole, University of Washington; and Lisa Austin, Civitas Social Sculpture.
2020 Kyle Staver
Jury: Andrew Totman, TAFE NSW, chair; Michael Azgour, Stanford University; and Helen O’Toole, University of Washington.
2019 Ursula von Rydingsvard
Jury: Andrew Alan Totman, Tafe NSW Australia, chair; Michael Azgour, Stanford University; Helen O’Toole, University of Washington
Jury: Beauvais Lyons, University of Tennessee, chair; Andrew Alan Totman, Tafe NSW Australia; and Michael Azgour, Stanford University
2017 Kerry James Marshall
Jury: Elissa Auther, Museum of Arts and Design and the Bard Graduate Center, chair; Thomas Lax, Museum of Modern Art; and Beauvais Lyons, University of Tennessee.
2016 Arlene Shechet
Jury: Elissa Auther, Museum of Arts and Design and the Bard Graduate Center, chair; Thomas Lax, The Museum of Modern Art; Beauvais Lyons, University of Tennessee
2015 Charles Gaines
Jury: Bill Arning, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, chair; Elissa Auther, Bard
Graduate Center; and Thomas Lax, The Museum of Modern Art.
2014 Kay Rosen
Jury: Brian Bishop, Framingham State University, chair; Bill Arning, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston; and James Rondeau, Art Institute of Chicago
2013 Elaine Sturtevant
Jury: Brian Bishop, Framingham State University, chair; James Rondeau, Art Institute of Chicago; and Bill Arning, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
2012 Adrian Piper
Jury: Brian Bishop, Framingham State University, chair; James Rondeau, Art Institute of Chicago; and John Yau, Rutgers University
2011 John Baldessari
Jury: James Meyer, Emory University and National Gallery of Art, chair; Johanna Burton, Bard College; and John Yau, Rutgers University
2010 Emory Douglas and Barkley L. Hendricks
Jury: Johanna Burton, Whitney Museum Independent Study Program, chair; James Meyer, Emory University; and John Yau, poet and independent critic
2009 Mary Heilmann
Jury: Johanna Burton, Whitney Museum Independent Study Program; Kevin Consey, California College of the Arts; and Jonathan Fineberg, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
2008 Yoko Ono
Jury: Patricia Failing, University of Washington, chair; Jonathan Fineberg, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Margo Machida, University of Connecticut, Storrs; and Kevin Consey, Harriet and Esteban Vicente Trust
2007 Betye Saar
Jury: Patricia Failing, University of Washington, chair; Margo Machida, University of Connecticut, Storrs; Richard Kalina, Fordham University; and Kevin Consey, Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, University of California, Berkeley
2006 Andrea Zittel
Jury: Margot Lovejoy, Purchase College, State University of New York, chair; Margo Machida; Patricia Failing, University of Washington; and Richard Kalina, Fordham University
2005 Joan Jonas
Committee: Austin I. Collins, University of Notre Dame, chair; Todd Ayoung, independent artist; Josely Carvalho, independent artist; and Margot Lovejoy, Purchase College, State University of New York
2004 Krzysztof Wodiczko
Committee: Austin I. Collins, Notre Dame, chair; Todd Ayoung, independent artist; Josely Carvalho, independent artist; and Margot Lovejoy, Purchase College, State University of New York
2003 Fred Wilson
Committee: Judy Brodsky, Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper, chair; Austin Collins, University of Notre Dame; Todd Ayoung, independent artist, New York; Andrea Norris, Spencer Museum of Art; Josely Carvalho, independent artist, New York
2002 Roger Shimomura
Committee: Judy Brodsky, Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper, chair; Austin Collins, University of Notre Dame; Sam Gilliam, independent artist, Washington, DC; and Andrea Norris, Spencer Museum of Art, Kansas
2001 Ed Ruscha
Committee: Judith Brodsky, Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper, chair; Nancy Friese, Rhode Island School of Design; Sam Gilliam, independent artist; and Andrea Norris, Spencer Museum of Art
2000 Ray Yoshida
Committee: William D. Paul, University of Georgia, chair; Nancy Friese, Rhode Island School of Design; Joanna Frueh, University of Nevada, Reno; Sam Gilliam; and Judith Stein
1999 Nam June Paik
Committee: Judith Stein, independent critic and curator, chair; Nancy Friese, Rhode Island School of Design; and Joanna Frueh, University of Nevada, Reno
1998 Arakawa and Madeline Gins
Committee: Elaine A. King, Carnegie Mellon University, chair; Roger Shimomura, University of Kansas; Peter Frank, independent curator; and Judith Stein, independent critic and curator
1997 Edward and Nancy Reddin Kienholz and Mel Bochner
Committee: Elaine A. King, Carnegie Mellon University, chair; Peter Frank, independent curator and critic; Thomas Nakashima, Catholic University of America; Roger Shimomura, University of Kansas; and Idelle Weber, independent artist
1996 Gary Hill
Committee: Martha Jackson-Jarvis, chair; Peter Frank; Elaine King, Carnegie Mellon University; Tom Nakashima, Catholic University of America; and Idelle Weber, independent artist
1995 Bruce Nauman
Committee: James W. Yood, chair, Northwestern University; Tom Barrow, University of New Mexico; Martha Jackson Jarvis, Washington, DC; Tom Nakashima, Catholic University of America; and Idelle Weber, New York
1994 Lorna Simpson
Committee: Beauvais Lyons, University of Tennessee, chair; Tom Barrow, University of New Mexico; Martha Jackson Jarvis, Washington, DC; and James Yood, Northwestern University
1993 Martin Puryear
Committee: Susan Rankaitis, chair, Scripps College; Tom Barrow, University of New Mexico; Robert Fichter, Florida State University; Beauvais Lyons, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; and James Yood, Northwestern University
1992 Ann Hamilton
Committee: Susan Rankaitis, Scripps College, chair; Beauvais Lyons, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Antonio Mendoza, Ohio State University; Lorraine Peltz, Northwestern University; and Richard Posner, University of Southern California
1991 Rachel Rosenthal
Committee: Phyllis Bramson, University of Illinois, Chicago, chair; Richard Posner, St. Paul, Minnesota; Susan Rankaitis, Scripps College; Jaune Quick-To-See Smith, Corrales, New Mexico; and Larry Walker, Georgia State University
1990 Howardena Pindell
Committee: Houston Conwill, chair; Phyllis Bramson; Ruth Fine; Mary Lovelace O’Neal; and Juan Sanchez
1989 Elizabeth Murray
Committee: Diane Burko, chair; Houston Conwill; James McGarrell; Gladys Nilsson; and Betty Woodman
1988 Jacob Lawrence
Committee: Ruth Weisberg, chair; Keith Achepohl; Diane Burko; Houston Conwill; James McGarrell; and Patti Warashina