Barbara Kruger, Arthur Jafa and Precious Okoyomon Honoured in Second Edition of Art Basel Awards

Art Basel has today announced the 33 medallists honoured in the second edition of its awards programme, which the global art fair describes as “reflecting a cross-disciplinary view of the contemporary art ecosystem”.

In addition to artists, the medallists include patrons, curators, media figures, institutions and other cultural actors, with the aim of recognising the ways in which influence and impact are felt in the contemporary art arena.

“This year’s cohort spans geographies, disciplines and generations, reflecting a truly interconnected art world,” said Vincenzo de Bellis, chair of the awards jury and chief artistic officer and global director of Art Basel fairs.

“The awards are designed to capture a broad cross-section of the ecosystem, grounded in the belief that meaningful progress depends on exchange across disciplines and perspectives.”

Women Artists Takeover Icon Category

This year’s Icon category is entirely comprised of women artists—Barbara Kruger, Howardena Pindell and Jenny Holzer—whose work the organisers say “has not only challenged dominant narratives, but redefined them entirely”.

Since the 1970s, Kruger has used images and text to challenge societal assumptions about power, often working outside traditional museum or gallery settings.

Pindell was MoMA’s first African American curator, who as an abstractionist produced work including the Spray Dot series of the early 1970s. However, following a car crash and subsequent memory loss, her art took a more political and autobiographical turn.

Holzer displays language and text across a range of media, including light projections in public spaces, to address political concerns including war and sexual violence.

 Emerging and Established Names Honoured

Medallists in the Established category include Palme d’Or-winning filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul, who was also selected as one of the 14 recipients of the inaugural Fondazione Prada Film Fund for his film Jenjira’s Magnificent Dream (shooting now).

Also honoured are Arthur Jafa, who rejects “following the rules” of the art world, Theaster Gates—who is creating a major installation for the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago—and interdisciplinary practitioner María Magdalena Campos-Pons, whose work considers the impact of colonialism on personal histories.

Emerging artists selected for medals include Precious Okoyomon—who is creating MoMa PS1’s inaugural Courtyard Commission, a living forest featuring a large-scale interactive iteration of her signature bear motif—as well as film-and music-maker Farah Al Qasimi and transculturality-focused sculptor Carla Gueye.

Year Two Builds on 2025 Edition

Other medallists include the Diriyah Biennale Foundation, e-flux founder Anton Vidokle, Azu Nwagbogu, founder of the African Artists’ Foundation and LagosPhoto Biennale. They are joined by artist-architect Sumayya Vally, whose work centres urban design within African and Islamic cultural frameworks.

The award’s organisers see the 2026 edition as building on last year’s momentum, showing how the programme not only recognises excellence, but also acts as a global platform for the discovery, advancement and production of art.

De Bellis said: “With the second edition of the Art Basel Awards, we begin to see the initiative take shape in practice—from new commissions to long-term support and deeper engagement with our growing community of medallists.”

The medallists will be honoured during Art Basel in June.