The Nasher Sculpture Center has announced Otobong Nkanga is the recipient of the 2025 Nasher Prize, an international award for sculpture given to a living artist who ‘elevates the understanding of sculpture and its possibilities’. The prize comes with $100,000, as well as an exhibition at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, Texas and a published monograph. Nkanga is the first winner since the annual prize became biannual – a chnage made to give the museum and the artist time to develop an exhibition for the Nasher and produce the book.
Nkanga, born in 1974 in Kano, Nigeria, is based in Antwerp.Her work, across drawing, installation, sculpture and performance investigates the relationship between people and land through our consumption of Earth’s natural resources. Her solo exhibition Craving for Southern Light is on view through 7 January 2024 at the Institut Valencià d’Art Modern (IVAM) in Spain. Nkanga will be presented the award, designed by star architect Renzo Piano, at a ceremony in Dallas on 5 April 2025.
