Otobong Nkanga wins 2025 Nasher Prize for sculpture

Nigerian-Belgian artist Otobong Nkanga has won the 2025 edition of the Nasher Prize. The award, considered the most prestigious sculpture honor in the world, has been given annually since 2015 by the Nasher Sculpture Center to a living artist whose work pushes the boundaries of form. Nkanga will receive US$100,000 from the Dallas institution, and a solo exhibition of his work, accompanied by a monograph, will open at the Nasher in April 2025.

“Otobong Nkanga’s work manifests the myriad connections – historical, sociological, economic, cultural and spiritual – that we have with the materials that make up our lives,” said Nasher Sculpture Center director Jeremy Strick in a statement. “Deepening into the varied meanings that these materials take on, Nkanga’s work makes clear the essential place of sculpture in contemporary life.”

“I didn’t expect this, but I am extremely honored,” Nkanga told the New York Times. The artist, who lives in Antwerp, is known for her experimental work that investigates themes of neocolonialism and environmental protection, often focusing on the global extraction of natural resources. His wide-ranging practice encompasses not only sculpture, but also drawing, installation, photography and performance. Nkanga participated in the 2017 editions of Documenta and Manifesta, the 2019 iterations of the Sharjah Biennale and the Venice Biennale, and the 2022 Busan Biennale; In 2019, she was named the inaugural winner of the $100,000 Lise Wilhelmsen Art Award, presented by the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in Sandvika, Norway. His work will be on display until January 7, 2024, in Valencia, Centro IVAM Julio González of Spain.

Upon breaking the news of Nkanga's victory, Nasher announced that he would now award the prize every two years, moving away from the annual calendar he had followed until now. By extending the interval between awards, the institution hopes to “give the museum and the laureate more time to display the works at the Nasher, produce a printed monograph and better communicate their importance in the field of sculpture,” according to a press release.

Source: Artforum