Six Innovative Visual Artists Awarded Prestigious MacArthur Genius Grants
MacArthur Foundation Announces 2025 Fellows, Highlighting Artistic Innovation
Honoring Exceptional Talent: Artists Among MacArthur Fellows
The prestigious MacArthur Fellowship has been awarded to 22 outstanding individuals, including six visual artists, in recognition of their remarkable contributions across various fields. Announced on October 8 by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the fellows are set to receive an unrestricted financial award of $800,000, distributed over the next five years. This recognition is a testament to the originality, insight, and potential of each recipient.
Exploring Economic Inequity and Resilience
Matt Black, a renowned California-based photographer and Magnum Photos member, is acclaimed for his black-and-white photography that documents economic disparities in the United States. His work, especially notable for its focus on rural central California, delves into themes such as the impact of drought on migrant farmworkers through series like “The Dry Land” (2014). Black is presently developing a new project on mining and climate change in the Western U.S.
Film and Memory: Garrett Bradley’s Unique Narrative
Garrett Bradley, an exceptional filmmaker from Louisiana, employs a blend of film, multi-channel video installations, and photography to explore racial oppression and public memory. Bradley’s innovative work, such as the installation “America” (2019) and the documentary “Time” (2020), seamlessly combines archival materials with contemporary media, offering intimate narratives on resilience and racial themes.
Traditional Art Meets Modern Challenges
Jeremy Frey, a Passamaquoddy basketmaker from the seventh generation, is reviving ancestral Wabanaki weaving techniques through contemporary sculpture. His ecological concerns are timely as climate change threatens traditional basketry materials. Frey has been outspoken about the challenges facing traditional art forms and their materials, highlighting these issues in a 2024 interview with PBS.
Unveiling Urban Disparities Through Art
Chicago-based photographer and social justice artist Tonika Lewis Johnson uses her expertise to expose the historical disparities within urban infrastructure. Her Folded Map Project contrasts lifestyles in paired addresses across Chicago’s North and South Sides. Her latest initiative, UnBlocked Englewood, aims at reviving her local neighborhood through public art.
Intergenerational Narratives of Trauma and Healing
Tuan Andrew Nguyen, a multidisciplinary artist from Saigon, focuses on the collective traumas stemming from colonial histories. His narrative-driven projects span multiple geographies, including Vietnam and the US, and use film, installation, and sculpture to delve into themes of resilience and historical healing.
Challenging Institutional Narratives Through Art
Gala Porras-Kim, an interdisciplinary artist, challenges the relationships between cultural artifacts and institutional frameworks. Her work often critiques how objects are disconnected from their native contexts, prompting viewers to reconsider cultural preservation and display. Porras-Kim’s projects blend research with artistic inquiry, as seen in “Made in LA 2016.”
Spotlight on Other Distinguished Fellows
This year’s fellowship recipients also include diverse talents such as cartographer Margaret Wickens Pearce, fiction writer Tommy Orange, and cultural anthropologist Ieva Jusionyte, among others. Below is a complete list of the 2025 MacArthur Fellows:
- Ángel F. Adames-Corraliza
- Matt Black
- Garrett Bradley
- Heather Christian
- Nabarun Dasgupta
- Kristina Douglass
- Kareem El-Badry
- Jeremy Frey
- Hahrie Han
- Tonika Lewis Johnson
- Ieva Jusionyte
- Toby Kiers
- Jason McLellan
- Tuan Andrew Nguyen
- Tommy Orange
- Margaret Wickens Pearce
- Sébastien Philippe
- Gala Porras-Kim
- Teresa Puthussery
- Craig Taborn
- William Tarpeh
- Lauren K. Williams
These distinguished fellows are recognized for their innovative approaches and significant impact across their respective fields, reinforcing the vital contributions of diverse creative and academic disciplines.
