Conceptual Artist Trevor Paglen Receives 2026 LG Guggenheim Award

The LG Guggenheim Award for 2026 has been granted to conceptual artist Trevor Paglen, a collaboration between LG Electronics and the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Paglen will receive a $100,000 honorarium. Based in New York, Paglen employs diverse media such as photography, sculpture, and digital art to explore themes like mass surveillance, communication networks, and computational imagery, establishing him as a significant figure in contemporary U.S. art. In a statement, Paglen highlighted the evolving role of images and algorithms in shaping societal decisions and cultures. The award jury commended his work for demystifying complex technologies and addressing ethical issues, countering corporate narratives. Jurors included Mami Kataoka of Tokyo's Mori Art Museum, Melanie Lenz from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Rasha Salti, Noam Segal of the Guggenheim, and Eugenio Viola. The LG Guggenheim Art and Technology Initiative, launched in 2022 as a five-year partnership, will conclude in 2027. Paglen is scheduled to present a hybrid lecture-performance titled 'The Lizard People Are Here!' at the Guggenheim on May 18, 2026, which critiques everyday technological systems, coinciding with the release of his book 'How to See Like a Machine: Images After AI' by Verso on May 19. Previous awardees are Stephanie Dinkins (2023), Shu Lea Cheang (2024), and Ayoung Kim (2025), with one more artist to be honored in 2027.