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.

2022 WINNER

Kent Monkman

There is a long-standing history in the visual arts of artists bearing witness to atrocities: Goya’s painting “The Third of May,” Picasso’s “Guernica,” to name but two. Toronto-based Cree artist Kent Monkman’s exhibition “Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience” follows this tradition, with a few notable updates. On the occasion of Canada’s 150th anniversary in 2017, Monkman’s paintings featured in a cross-country touring exhibit that culminated at the University of British Columbia’s Museum of Anthropology, August 6, 2020 – January 3, 2021, provides a searing critique of Canada’s colonial policies past and present, including, in the artist’s accounting: “the signing of the numbered treaties, the reserve system, genocidal policies of the residential schools, mass incarceration and urban squalor.” This is a body of work that, though tackling a grim subject matter, is often a blend of subversive humor, fantasy, and homoeroticism. And, although appropriating the form of Western history painting, Monkman’s artwork breaks from tradition by subverting and de-centering the Western gaze and re-presenting a perspective of history from the vantage point of the Indigenous peoples. Albeit, a history filtered through the particular lens of an artist who identifies as both queer and two-spirit, and through his trickster alter-ego, Miss Chief Share Eagle Testickle, the protagonist within much of Monkman’s paintings and performances. Through his use of history painting, Monkman’s project is one that reminds us of the potency of images, and the potential of the artist to provoke and challenge history and its representations.   

Committee: 
Stephen Fakiyesi, Independent Artist, Toronto 
Jessica Hong, Hood Museum, Toledo Art Museum 
Beauvais Lyons, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, (Chair) 

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.

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
2018 Firelei Báez
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