Ali Eyal Wins Mohn Award
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| Ali Eyal, And Look Where I Went, 2025 |
Iraqi-American artist Ali Eyal is this year's recipient of the Mohn Award, a $100,000 prize given to an artist in the Hammer Museum's "Made in L.A." biennial. Shown is Eyal's phantasmagoric oil-on-linen painting And Look Where I Went, inspired by a visit to Manhattan's 9/11 memorial. Eyal will also be in the Whitney Biennial 2026, opening next month. Images of Eyal's art can be seen on his website.
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| Carl Cheng, Anthropocene Landscape 3, 2006 (printed circuit boards and rivets on aluminum) |
The Hammer also announced that Carl Cheng received a Career Achievement Award, and Greg Breda got the Public Recognition Award, decided by a vote of Hammer visitors. Each comes with a $25,000 prize.
"Made in L.A. 2025" is on view through Mar. 1, 2026.
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| Greg Breda, The Hour Within, 2025 |
Comments
Too much contemporary art, particularly after decades of so much abstract and non-figurative, has become almost a parody of itself.
However, I recall the art critic of Time magazine years ago dismissing the works of Jean-Michel Basquiat. The critic's commentary did make me wary of Basquiat. There are aspects of him that do fall into the school of "even my kid can do that!" But Basquiat's style is immediately identifiable. That's more than can be said about those artists who are both technically and creatively very good but whose works aren't as easy to associate with a particular person.
It's similar to the difference between a Henry Singer Sargent and other artists of his time. The DNA of an artist sometimes comes through on the work he or she creates.