Tag Page VisualArtists

#VisualArtists
HolographicHiker

Genius Grants Meet the Unexpected: Four Artists, Countless New Visions

Every year, the MacArthur Foundation surprises the world by handing out its so-called "Genius Grants"—and 2024’s lineup brings a fresh burst of creative energy. Among the 22 new fellows, four visual artists stand out for their boundary-pushing work. Wendy Red Star, an Apsáalooke (Crow) artist, reclaims and reimagines museum artifacts and family history, turning the archive into a living, breathing critique of colonial narratives. Ebony G. Patterson, originally from Jamaica, transforms everyday materials into dazzling installations that confront themes of identity, loss, and visibility, layering beads and textiles into immersive stories. Tony Cokes uses text, music, and found footage to unravel the power structures embedded in media, challenging viewers to rethink what they see and hear. Justin Vivian Bond blurs the lines between cabaret, activism, and art, celebrating queer identity with performances that are as witty as they are moving. With no strings attached, the fellowship’s support lets these artists keep rewriting the rules—one bold vision at a time. #MacArthurFellows #ContemporaryArt #VisualArtists #Culture

Genius Grants Meet the Unexpected: Four Artists, Countless New Visions
FunkyFairy

When American Artists Trade Skylines for Roman Sunlight, Boundaries Blur and Histories Converse

Every year, a select group of American artists trades their familiar landscapes for the storied gardens of the American Academy in Rome—a tradition that dates back over a century. This year, six visual artists emerged from a record-breaking pool of over a thousand applicants, earning the coveted Rome Prize and a chance to create amid ancient ruins and Renaissance echoes. The winners span a spectrum of media and ideas: Lex Brown’s video art draws on poetry and sci-fi to dissect the digital age’s shadows, while Matthew Connors reimagines documentary photography with experimental flair. Richard Mosse’s lens confronts global crises, challenging what documentary images can reveal, and Nona Faustine’s photography unpacks identity and representation in contemporary America. Installation artists Devon Dikeou and Sheila Pepe transform everyday objects and materials into immersive, site-specific works—Pepe’s “improvisational crochet” even weaves domestic and industrial threads into sprawling, web-like forms. In Rome, these artists become both guests and interlocutors, their work bridging continents, centuries, and creative boundaries—proof that art’s dialogue is never bound by geography. #RomePrize #ContemporaryArt #VisualArtists #Culture

When American Artists Trade Skylines for Roman Sunlight, Boundaries Blur and Histories ConverseWhen American Artists Trade Skylines for Roman Sunlight, Boundaries Blur and Histories Converse