Michael Rakowitz Awarded 2020 Nasher Prize for Sculpture

The Nasher Sculpture Center in Texas has named Michael Rakowitz as the recipient of its 2020 Nasher Prize. This $100,000 award recognizes a living artist who advances the perception of sculpture. Rakowitz, an American artist, creates socially engaged work that frequently addresses homelessness and migration, drawing from his family's history as part of the Iraqi Jewish diaspora. He was featured in an interview with Oli Basciano in ArtReview's summer issue. Jeremy Strick, the institution's director and jury spokesperson, commended Rakowitz for work that uniquely confronts complex questions of history, heritage, and identity central to contemporary culture and politics. The prize, now in its fifth year, has previously honored artists like Isa Genzken (2019), Theaster Gates (2018), Pierre Huyghe (2017), and Doris Salcedo (2016), all known for expanding sculptural definitions. The 2020 jury included notable figures such as Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Director of Castello di Rivoli in Italy; Phyllida Barlow; Pablo León de la Barra, Curator at Large for Latin America at the Guggenheim Museum; Lynne Cooke, Senior Curator at the National Gallery of Art; Briony Fer, Professor of History of Art at University College London; Yuko Hasegawa, Chief Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo; Hou Hanru, Artistic Director of MAXXI in Rome; and Sir Nicholas Serota, Chair of Arts Council England.