Maya Lin has been selected to receive the 21st Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, a $300,000 award presented annually to “a man or woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind’s enjoyment and understanding of life.”
The artist and architect, who first rose to fame with her design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC, was chosen from 100 nominees spanning across all fields of the arts. She was lauded for her “last memorial” - What Is Missing? - in which she has been developing for the past seven years in hopes to raise awareness about the degradation of our planet and rapid extinction of the world’s animals and plants.
“She is truly one of America’s great artists, who speaks to our historical moment in a way that few artists do,” stated jury member and artist Carrie Mae Weems. “And not only is she continuing to create a body of purposeful work without equal, out of deep aesthetic principles, but she has laid down tracks that have allowed other artists to follow.”
Lin will use the funds towards the development of What Is Missing?. She will be honored on November 12 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, joining a list of laureates that include Frank Gehry, Bob Dylan and Spike Lee.
News via ArtNet
