Zanele Muholi and Tschabalala Self Among Prizewinners at Aspen Art Fair 2026

Tschabalala Self, Jozua Gerrard, Chen Tianyi and Zanele Muholi are the recipients of the Aspen Art Fair’s 2026 Art Prize Programme. The organisers of the fair—the third edition of which has been taking place in the Colorado city’s Hotel Jerome this week—expanded the prize scheme for 2026.

Bob Chase, the fair’s co-founder, said: “The Aspen Art Fair continues to expand its commitment to supporting artists at every stage of their creative development,” adding: “We are proud to create meaningful opportunities for established and emerging artists—and to nurture the next generation of creative voices in our community.”

Tschabalala Self was awarded the Anderson Ranch Arts Centre Visiting Artist Prize, which earns her a one-week residency at the Ranch in Snowmass and access to studios hosting painting, sculpture, photography, ceramics and more. Self creates figurative pieces exploring the cultural significance of the Black female body as well as wider questions of race, gender and sexuality. She uses painted, sewn and printed materials and works across painting, sculpture and printmaking.

Meanwhile, the New York-based Mack Art Foundation named the recipients of its two artist-in-residency prizes as Jozua Gerrard and Chen Tianyi. South African artist Gerrard paints on glass, using vivid colours to bring to life his observations of everyday existence, examining ideas of identity and human connection. Japan-based Chen draws on her Chinese cultural heritage while also reinterpreting established artistic forms to consider lived experience.

Christine Mack, who established the foundation, said: “As artists with distinctive voices, Gerrard and Chen will find in New York City an extraordinary environment in which to expand their practices. The city’s cultural diversity and creative energy will provide valuable opportunities for inspiration, dialogue and artistic growth.”

The Buckhorn Public Art Prize was awarded to South African activist and artist Zanele Muholi, whose work documents and celebrates the lives of Black LGBTQIA+ communities. Muholi’s Faces and Phases (2006–) series is an ongoing set of portraits that is creating a living archive of Black queer and trans lives. As part of the prize, a public installation from the series will be presented at the Red Brick Centre for the Arts in Aspen.

“Zanele Muholi is one of the most vital and influential voices working in contemporary art today,” said Kelly Cornell, director of The Aspen Art Fair. “Through the power and directness of portraiture, Muholi creates visibility, preserves personal histories and invites meaningful dialogue around identity and representation.”