Sheila Hicks 2022

Sheila Hicks

2022 Recipient

The International Sculpture Center presented Sheila Hicks with the 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award on April 6th, 2022, during a luncheon, at the Hepworth Wakefield celebrating the opening of Sheila Hicks: Off Grid. Sheila Hicks was born in Hastings, Nebraska and received her BFA and MFA degrees from Yale University. She received a Fulbright scholarship in 1957-58 to paint in Chile. While in South America she developed her interest in working with fibers. After founding workshops in Mexico, Chile, and South Africa, and working in Morocco and India, she now divides her time between her Paris studio and New York.

Hicks has exhibited internationally in both solo and group exhibitions. She was included in the 2017 Venice Biennal, 2014 Whitney Biennial in New York, the 2012 São Paulo Biennial in Brazil. Recent solo presentations include "Lignes de Vie" at the Centre Pompidou in Paris in 2018, Free Threads 1954-2017 Museo Amparo, Mexico,"Pêcher dans La Rivière" at the Alison Jacques Gallery, London (2013); A major retrospective Sheila Hicks: 50 Years debuted at the Addison Gallery of American Art and traveled to the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia and the Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC. Hicks‘ work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art, New York City; Museum of Fine Arts Boston; The Art Institute of Chicago; the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Centre Pompidou, Paris; the Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; Museo de Bellas Artes, Santiago; solo exhibitions at the Seoul Art Center, Korea; Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article by clicking here.

Jun Kaneko 2021.

Jun Kaneko

2021 Recipient

The International Sculpture Center presented Jun Kaneko with the 30th Annual Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award on October 21, 2021 at 2010 Leavenworth in Omaha, NE. Johannah Hutchison, ISC Executive Director, and Jon Ott, ISC Board of Trustees Chair, presented Jun Kaneko with award.

Those in attendance ranged from established artists, to emerging artists, collectors, patrons and friends who came to show support for an artist who they admire. The evening included a cocktail reception, seated dinner, and awards ceremony in a space surrounded by the majesty of Kaneko’s work.

This event was sponsored and supported by Ree & Jun Kaneko, Karen & Taylor Borchert, Marlina & Dusty Davidson, Karen & Robert Duncan, Amy Haddad & Steven Martin, Catherine & Josh Kanter, Nanci J. Lanni, Kathy & Marc LeBaron, Polina & Bob Schlott, University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art, Lange Estate Winery & Vineyards, Digital Atelier, The Seward Johnson Atelier, and KANEKO.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article by clicking here.

James Surls, 2020.

James Surls

2020 Recipient

The International Sculpture Center presented James Surls with the 29th Annual Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award on October 21, 2021 at 2010 Leavenworth in Omaha, NE. Johannah Hutchison, ISC Executive Director, and Jon Ott, ISC Board of Trustees Chair, presented James Surls with award. The 2020 ISC Gala was cancelled due to the pandemic, so the organization was honored to have the opportunity to finally present the award in person.

James Surls is an internationally recognized artist and one of the most preeminent living artists in the United States. James was born in Terrell, Texas in 1943. He graduated from Sam Houston State Teachers College in 1966 and from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1968. He taught at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX from 1968 to 1976. He then moved to Splendora, TX with his wife and artist-Charmaine Locke. He lived in Splendora a little over 20 years. While there he founded the Lawndale Alternative Arts Space at the University of Houston in the late 70's. Lawndale was a thriving artist community where he continued to teach and encourage, and where he produced a large body of work. Surls currently resides and has his studio in Carbondale, CO. He has lived in Carbondale, CO since 1997. His sculptures, drawings and prints, which reflect his unique sensibility to natural forms, are in major art museums and public and private collections throughout the world, including: the Centro Cultural Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City; the country of Singapore; Museum of Modern Art, NY; Smithsonian American Art Museum, DC; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NY; Whitney Museum of American Art, NY.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article by clicking here.

Seward Johnson and Red Grooms, 2019.

Red Grooms and Seward Johnson

2019 Recipients

The International Sculpture Center presented artists Red Grooms and Seward Johnson with the 28th Annual Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award on April 18th, 2019 at Tribeca 360 in New York City. Speakers Barbara Haskell and Dr. Florence Clark provided guests with both an art historical and personal perspective on the guests of honor. Barbara Haskell, a Curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art, spoke of Red Grooms’s extraordinary achievements as a sculptor who illustrates humor and joy in his work. Dr. Florence Clark, Professor Emeritus at the University of Southern California, spoke of Seward Johnson’s ability to preserve modern culture while also contributing to the growth of sculpture for the public good.

Those in attendance ranged from established artists, to emerging artists, gallerists, and patrons who came to show support for artists whom they admire. The evening included a cocktail reception overlooking the Hudson River and downtown New York City, seated dinner, and awards ceremony.

This event was sponsored and supported by The Atlantic Foundation, Digital Atelier, Karen & Robert Duncan, Grounds For Sculpture, Nanci Lanni & Barbara Wilks, Polina & Robert Schlott, Marlborough Gallery and The Seward Johnson Atelier. We would also like to give a special thank you to Agnes Gund, Michelle Hobart & Justin Peyser, Elizabeth Strong-Cuevas, Barbara & Donald Tober, and Charlotte Weber.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Red Grooms by clicking here.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Seward Johnson by clicking here.

Alice Aycock and Betye Saar, 2018.

Alice Aycock and Betye Saar

2018 Recipients

The International Sculpture Center presented artists Alice Aycock and Betye Saar with the 27th Annual Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award on April 18th, 2018 at Tribeca Rooftop in New York City. Robert Hobbs, art historian and professor, spoke of Alice Aycock’s extraordinary achievements as a sculptor, detailing how her fascination with science and energy has inspired her work. Hobbs said “Aycock…likes to take art out for a walk in the world. She also brings aspects of the world, particularly many of its different forms of energy, into her studio so that they might be seen anew through her art.”

Lowery Stokes Sims, Curator Emerita from the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, contextualized Betye Saar’s work with its historical and societal implications: “Through her skillful combinations, Betye conjures the energy and the spirit of the original owners of recycled relics and this strategy lends a particularly robust nuance to the proverbial Proustian evocation of the power of objects to activate memory.” The evening closed with a round of applause as guests gathered around the artists to offer their personal congratulations upon receiving their Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Awards. This event was sponsored and supported by Karen & Robert Duncan, Agnes Gund, Ree & Jun Kaneko, Kathy & Marc LeBaron – Lincoln Industries, Marlborough Gallery, Barbara & Donald Tober, and The Seward Johnson Atelier. We would also like to give a special thank you to Digital Atelier, The Lapis Press, and Roberts Projects.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Alice Aycock by clicking here.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Betye Saar by clicking here.

Lynda Benglis and Tony Cragg, 2017.

Lynda Benglis and Tony Cragg

2017 Recipients

The International Sculpture Center presented artists Lynda Benglis and Tony Cragg with the 26th Annual Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award on April 26, 2017 at Tribeca Rooftop in New York City.

Richard Armstrong, Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation, shared personal anecdotes about his friendship with Benglis, and about her expansive career. “In the art world Lynda Benglis, is and has always has been, a happy outlier. [She] was outside the norm first, for being a woman sculptor, and because of her creative exuberance. She has always given herself great freedom to explore, to expand, to invent, and to reinvent.”

Jonathan Wood, Research Curator at the Henry Moore Institute, spoke of Cragg’s extraordinary achievements throughout his career as a sculptor, writer, and teacher. “Cragg has enabled viewers and makers to think afresh about how sculpture can give new and inquisitive shape and value to our understanding of the world.” Wood praised Cragg’s generosity of spirit and his incredible contribution to art education. This event was sponsored and supported by Cheim & Read Gallery, The Sewart Johnson Atelier, Karen & Robert Duncan, Agnes Gund, The Helis Foundation, Ree & Jun Kaneko, Kathy & Marc LeBaron – Lincoln Industries, Lisson Gallery, The Ronald & Jo Carole Lauder Foundation, Marian Goodman Gallery, and Nadine Witkin, Estate of Isaac Witkin. We would also like to give a special thank you to the Atlantic Foundation, Digital Atelier, Mana Contemporary, and Seward Johnson.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Lynda Benglis by clicking here.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Tony Cragg by clicking here.

Kiki Smith and Bernar Venet, 2016.

Kiki Smith and Bernar Venet

2016 Recipients

The International Sculpture Center presented artists Kiki Smith and Bernar Venet with the 25th Annual Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award on February 29, 2016 at Three Sixty° in New York City. Friends, family, and patrons of the arts community came together to celebrate the life and exemplary careers of Kiki Smith and Bernar Venet at this exclusive gala event.

The evening began with a VIP Art Sale, where guests were able to enjoy cocktails and browse selected sculpture and two dimensional works that were generously donated by prominent sculptors, including past and present Lifetime Achievement Award winners.

The International Sculpture Center was honored to welcome speakers Helaine Posner, Chief Curator, Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, SUNY and Thierry de Duve, Distinguished Lecturer, Hunter College, New York. Both of these wonderful speakers provided art historical context and personal insight to the award recipients.

Those in attendance included established artists, arts patrons, emerging artists, and arts administrators who came to show support for artists whom they admire. Thank you to everyone who attended this event and showed their appreciation for these most deserving artists.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Kiki Smith by clicking here.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Bernar Venet by clicking here.

Joel Shapiro, 2015.

Joel Shapiro

2015 Recipient

The International Sculpture Center presented artist Joel Shapiro with the 24th Annual Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award on April 15, 2015 at The Edison Ballroom in New York City. The evening included an Art Benefit Sale hosted by Paddle8, featuring works by established and emerging artists.

Speaker Richard Shiff, art historian and Effie Marie Cain Regents Chair in Art at The University of Texas at Austin, provided guests with both an art historical and personal perspective on the guest of honor. Shiff said, “Why does Joel’s art feel young? In the studio, he is still the unruly child, messing things up, pulling things apart, putting things together again. What’s important is his utter physical freedom which corresponds to his emotional freedom…[encompassing] all human feelings from the familiar to the uncanny. It is uncanny to witness a lifetime of achievement that is still only beginning. For this, Joel, thank you”. Joel Shapiro accepted his award with thanks and appreciation to his many friends in the audience and was met with cheers from guests upon accepting his Lifetime Achievement Award.

This event was sponsored and supported by Polich Tallix Fine Art Foundry, Carol Feuerman, Ree and Jun Kaneko, Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder, Joshua S. Kanter, and Andrew Rogers. We would also like to give a special thank you to Paddle8 and all of the artists who generously donated artwork and made our Art Benefit Auction possible.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Joel Shapiro by clicking here.

Ursula von Rydingsvard and Judy Pfaff, 2014.

Judy Pfaff and Ursula von Rydingsvard

2014 Recipients

The International Sculpture Center presented artists Judy Pfaff and Ursula von Rydingsvard with the 23rd Annual Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award at a sold out event on April 30, 2014 at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan.

Speakers Dr. Irving Sandler and Peter Murray CBE provided guests with both an art historical and personal perspective on the guests of honor. Dr. Irving Sandler, an American art critic, curator, educator, and historian, was a co-founder of Artists’ Space Gallery in New York which helped launch the career of Pfaff and many other contemporary artists. Peter Murray, who is the founding Director of Yorkshire Sculpture Park, opened the first European large-scale survey of von Rydingsvard’s work on April 5, 2014. The evening included an Art Benefit Sale featuring works by established and emerging artists. Guests also enjoyed a raffle including an island getaway, a weekend trip with museum tours, and ISC gift packages, a cocktail reception, and awards ceremony. This event was sponsored and supported by Kathy & Marc Lebaron, Bloomberg, Ree & Jun Kaneko, Kanter Family Foundation, Dr. Herbert J. Kayden, Anna-Maria & Stephan Kellen Foundation, Galerie Lelong, The Digital Atelier, Canvas Wines, Windy City Inc., Valhrona Chocolate, Rennaisance New Orleans Arts Hotel, Brooklyn Bridge Marriott, Museum of Arts and Design, Storm King Art Center, Dia Art Foundation, Grounds for Sculpture, Rats Restaurant, Bario Neal, Murad, and all of the artists who generously donated artwork, and made our Art Benefit Sale possible.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Judy Pfaff by clicking here.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Ursula Von Rydingsvard by clicking here.

(Top) Nancy Holt, 2013. (Bottom) Beverly Pepper, 2013.

Nancy Holt and Beverly Pepper

2013 Recipients

The International Sculpture Center awarded its 22nd Annual Lifetime Achievement in Sculpture award to Nancy Holt and Beverly Pepper on October 3, 2013 at Tribeca Three-Sixty in NYC. Speakers Ben Tufnell, who represents Holt’s work through his project Parafin, and Joseph Becherer, Director and Curator of Sculpture at Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, provided guests with both an art historical and personal perspective on the guests of honor.

Nancy Holt thanked her many friends and supporters in the audience, saying: “Working on the fringes of the art world, I’ve needed a lot of support from people who were willing to see outside of the general construction of the art world… people who supported and helped me over the years entered into an unknown area where we had to ‘feel our way,’ and that took an extra amount of vision.” Beverly Pepper, who traveled from Todi, Italy to New York City to receive her award, was visibly moved by the experience, and said “I would like to tell you how overwhelmed I am, and how moved I am, to see so many friends over so many decades. It was worth living to be this age. It’s amazing to look out here and see my history.” This event was sponsored and supported by Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, The BWF Foundation, Inc., Maureen & Marshall Cogan, Digital Atelier, Mrs. Donald Fisher, Andrew Gundlach, J. Seward Johnson, Johnson Art and Education Foundation, Kanter Family Foundation, Joseph Kernisky, Kathy & Marc LeBaron, Marlborough Gallery, and Fran & Barry Weissler.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Beverly Pepper by clicking here.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Nancy Holt by clicking here.

Fernando Botero, 2012.

Fernando Botero

2012 Recipient

The International Sculpture Center awarded its 21st Annual Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture award to Fernando Botero on October 26, 2012. Artists, patrons, friends and colleagues of Mr. Botero joined the ISC’s Board of Trustees to honor the prolific artist at the Tribeca 360° in NYC.

Speakers David Ebony, Editor of Art in America, who worked closely with Botero on his book Botero: Abu Ghraib, and Pierre Levai, President of Marlborough Gallery Inc., a long-time representative and friend, provided guests with both an art historical and personal perspective on the guest of honor. Ebony noted of Botero’s work; “It’s fundamentally Latin American, but internationally intelligible.”

Fernando Botero, when describing his life’s work in artistic representation, says: “I am happy to say that I believe one of life’s great pleasures is to live being able to do what we most enjoy. There is no doubt that I have been blessed with the good fortune of being able to dedicate my entire life’s energy to this amazing passion which is creating art. Nothing brings more happiness and enjoyment and nothing for me is more fulfilling.”

Mr. Botero was surrounded by family, friends and admirers for the intimate, candlelit evening. The evening closed with smiles and congratulations as guests gathered around Botero to offer their personal congratulations on his career and his Lifetime Achievement Award.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Fernando Botero by clicking here.

Frank Stella, 2011.

Frank Stella

2011 Recipient

The International Sculpture Center awarded its 20th Annual Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture award to Frank Stella on April 26, 2011 at Tribeca Rooftop in NYC.

Speakers Adam Weinberg, Alice Pratt Brown Director of the Whitney Museum of American Art, and Ken Tyler, master printer and long-time friend, provided guests with both an art historical and personal perspective on the guest of honor. Weinberg remarked, “It’s not merely the length of his career, it is the density and intensity of his work and his ability to reinvent himself as an artist that makes it impossible to take the measure of his contribution in ten minutes.”

Stella may be best known as a painter, but when describing the evolution of his work, Stella remarked, “…I am quite happy and not a little bit proud to say that at the end of the twentieth century, after more than a hundred years of modernism, I am able to paint in space with steel.”

The evening closed with smiles and congratulations accompanied by the presentation of a birthday cake, fashioned in the style of one of Stella’s concentric square paintings. Known for an unwavering dedication to his own personal vision, Stella was given a very appropriate toast by Ann Freedman of Freedman Art. As Gala guests raised their glasses to Stella for the last time that evening, Freedman wished him a Happy Birthday and said, “…this is a time when you can have your concentric square cake and eat it too.”

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Frank Stella by clicking here.

(Top) Phillip King, 2010. (Bottom) William Tucker, 2010.

Phillip King & William Tucker

2010 Recipients

The 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award in Contemporary Sculpture was presented to Phillip King and William Tucker on April 9th 2010. Joining the prestigious list of previous winners, they gathered with members of the arts community who came together to celebrate their lives and careers at Chelsea College of Art & Design’s 45 Millbank, in London, UK.

Nearly 150 people from around the globe, ranging from established artists and past Lifetime Achievement Award recipients, to aspiring artists and patrons, attended this sold out event. A highlight of the evening was the heartwarming, and often humorous remarks by the evening’s presenters, Sir Anthony Caro, ON, CBE, Artist; Keith Patrick, Art Critic, Curator, and Editor; and Peter Murray, OBE, Executive Director of Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

We would like to extend a special thanks to the evenings sponsors Nadine Witkin/Estate of Isaac Witkin, The Kanter Family Foundation, and Chelsea College of Art & Design/University of the Arts London. We would also like to acknowledge Pangolin London, Gallery Kasahara, and especially Kate Sedwell, and Chris Wainwright.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Phillip King by clicking here.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on William Tucker by clicking here.

Richard Hunt, 2009.

Richard Hunt

2009 Recipient

The ISC’s 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award Gala was held on April 29, 2009 at the Chicago Cultural Center, in Chicago, IL. Nearly 250 artists, art patrons, members of the ISC Board of Directors, ISC members, and Richard’s friends and family all congregated for an evening of cocktails and dinner. The night fully came to life with a memorable awards ceremony that brought on laughter, tears, and standing ovations.

Speaker Joseph Becherer, director/curator of the Sculpture Program at Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, set the tone of the evening with his words about Richard, saying “…Patient and kind, thoughtful and encouraging, generous and insightful, and still further, grateful and humble…I suspect that were he to have become a teacher or scientist or lawyer, such characteristics would remain true. How doubly fortunate we are that he became a sculptor. One only wishes such attributes were offered in earnest and with greater frequency in the art world.”

A further excerpt, from Joe Becherer’s speech summarizes just why Richard Hunt has joined the ranks of internationally renowned sculptors: “Richard, I know that you prefer to work in metal and steel, occasionally in bronze, but for me, for Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, for the people gathered together this evening, and for the sculpture community, your work is a more precious material, gold. Through your artistry and in your humanity you are the gold standard.”

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Richard Hunt by clicking here.

(Top) Fletcher Benton, 2008. (Bottom) Arnaldo Pomodoro, 2008.

Fletcher Benton & Arnaldo Pomodoro

2008 Recipients

Nearly 300 Patrons of the arts and supporters of Fletcher Benton and Arnaldo Pomodoro joined the Board of Directors and members of the ISC for the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award Gala honoring Benton and Pomodoro. The event was held on April 25, 2008 at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, in San Francisco, CA. The evening began with cocktails, followed by dinner and an awards ceremony, which included remarks by Peter Selz, art historian, educator, and longtime friend of both artists, and by Philip Linhares, chief curator at the Oakland Museum of California, and also a longtime friend of both artists. Special thanks are due to all of the sponsors who contributed to the event’s success. We would like to thank Erik A. & Michele M. Christiansen, Karen & Robert Duncan, Kanter Family Foundation, Marc LeBaron / Lincoln Industries, Manuel Neri, Nadine Witkin / Estate of Isaac Witkin, Donald & Doris Fisher, Gretchen & John Berggruen, James Curtis, Galerie Brigitte Haasner, Panela & John Henry, Marlene & William S. Louchheim Jr., Sheila Potiker, Roselyne C. Swig, and Stephen & Connie Wirtz. Special thanks to Gerson Bakar, Gerson Bakar & Associates, the Koret Foundation, and Dick Green for making the possibility of SFMoMA as the gala venue a reality. Finally, we would like to thank in-kind donors McFadden Winery, providers of the wine for the cocktail portion of the evening, and Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery, Francis Ford Coppola Presents, LLC, and Ghirardelli Chocolate Company, suppliers of the wonderful “goodies” for the gift bags each attendee received at the conclusion of the evening’s festivities.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Fletcher Benton by clicking here.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Arnaldo Pomodoro by clicking here.

William King, 2007.

William King

2007 Recipient

Nearly 200 People attended the ISC’s 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award Gala honoring William King, held in New York City on November 7, 2007.

Speakers included Michael Hall, a sculptor, educator, collector, critic, and long-time friend of King, who shared personal stories about the artist and the beginnings of his career. The evening’s other speaker was David Cohen, editor and publisher of artcritical.com and art critic/contributing editor for the New York Sun. Cohen did a wonderful job of highlighting King’s contributions to the field of sculpture.

William King treated the audience to a brief but humorous acceptance speech, which began with “Four score and seven years ago…” and concluded with a heartfelt, “It doesn’t get any better than this, folks!”

During cocktails, attendees could view a slide show provided by King’s long-time gallery Terry Dintenfass Inc., illustrating the full range of his work. An original King sculpture, on loan from Andrew and Ann Dintenfass, was also exhibited for the occasion. Attendees left the gala with signed copies of William King’s most recent catalogue, The Early Work of William King, courtesy of the Alexandre Gallery, and table donors received a unique, limited edition piece of work created by the award recipient.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on William King by clicking here.

Manuel Neri, 2006.

Manuel Neri

2006 Recipient

On November 1, 2006 enthusiasts from around the world gathered to honor renowned sculptor Manuel Neri, the 2006 recipient of the ISC’s Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award. The award gala was held at Manhattan’s elite Tribeca Rooftop. A magnificent view of the New York skyline set the tone for the evening, as guests enjoyed eight bronze centerpieces cast from Neri’s Ostrakon Series, speeches by Marc di Suvero and Jack Cowart, as well as gourmet fare and celebration.

Neri, who is recognized as a pioneer in the 1960s San Francisco figurative art movement, continues to receive critical praise for his drawings and sculptures.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Manuel Neri by clicking here.

Magdalena Abakanowicz, 2005.

Magdalena Abakanowicz

2005 Recipient

Magdalena Abakanowicz is an internationally recognized artist, who, after attending the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, Poland, began her career as a painter. After gradually moving toward working with three-dimensional forms, in 1970 she made the artistic changes in scale and material and began creating figurative and non-figurative sculptures from burlap and resin, eventually moving to bronze, wood, stone, and steel. She has had installations in Italy, Israel, Germany, United States, South Korea, Lithuania, and Poland. After teaching as a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan for 25 years, she was commissioned by Paris and designed Arboreal Architecture, an ecological city with skyscrapers covered with vegetation. She has created over 1000 sculptures worldwide and has also designed and choreographed dances deriving from her sculptures which are performed by a Japanese Butoh dance group and Polish dancers. Two of her most famous collections include War Games, huge tree trunks armed with steel, and Mutants, monumental metaphoric animals, animal heads and birds in bronze. She has received honors from the Rhode Island School of Design, The Academy of Fine Arts Lodz, Poland and the Pratt Institute, New York, as well as awards from Brazil, Germany, Austria, and France. She currently lives and works in Warsaw, Poland.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Magdalena Abakanowicz by clicking here.

ISC's Lifetime Achievement Award statuette

Christo and Jeanne-Claude

2004 Recipients

Christo and Jeanne-Claude have created 18 major outdoor projects, which are among the most ambitious, innovative sculptures in the world. In February 2005, The Gates transformed New York City's Central Park, the space famously designed, starting in 1858, by Frederick Law Olmsted and Clavert Vaux. In a radical departure from most art, Christo and Jeanne Claude's projects require up to a quarter-century to realize, yet they have a life span limited to days and weeks, after which they are deconstructed and the materials recycled. Christo has beautifully described their nomadic quality: "Things in transition...airy...passing through." Their art pays attention to living beauty, mutability, evanescence, and the émigré.

— Jan Garden Castro (Sculpture Web Special Online)

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Christo and Jeanne-Claude by clicking here.

ISC's Lifetime Achievement Award statuette

Elizabeth Catlett

2003 Recipient

Elizabeth Catlett was born in 1915 in Washington, DC. Her mother, who raised her, and her father, who died before her birth, were children of slaves; both were teachers in the DC public school system. Catlett received her BA from Howard University and her MFA from the University of Iowa, where her sculpture career began. For more than 30 years, she was an educator, teaching and administering students of all ages, most with little or no access to cultural and institutional power. In [New York in] the 1940s, she met an extraordinary array of intellectuals driven by a similar sense of aesthetic and social purpose, [including]: Gwendolyn Bennett, W.E.B. Dubois, Ralph Ellison, Langston Hughes, and Paul Robeson. In Mexico City, where she moved in 1946: Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and David Alfaro Siquieros. In 1947 Catlett began a decisive affiliation with the Taller de Grafica Popular (Graphic Arts Workshop), where she met the painter and printmaker Francisco Mora (“Pancho”), whom she married in 1948. In the aftermath of the McCarthy years, Catlett’s resistance to race, class, and gender injustice drew the ire of the U.S. government. The same conviction and legibility, combined with her human and aesthetic constancy and grace, made her an influential figure in the Civil Rights and Black Arts movements. In 1983, she and Pancho bought an apartment in Battery Park City, in the shadow of the World Trade Center, where they spent a couple of months a year.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Elizabeth Catlett by clicking here.

— Michael Brenson (Sculpture Vol.22 No.3)

ISC's Lifetime Achievement Award statuette

Giò Pomodoro

2002 Recipient

[Giò Pomodoro] was born in 1930 in Orciano di Pesaro, where he attended the Technical School for Land-Surveyors. He began exhibiting in 1954 at the Galleria Numero in Florence and the Galleria Montenapoleone in Milan. By 1955, he was showing at the best Italian galleries of the time: Galleria del Cavallino (Venice), Galleria del Naviglio (Milan), and Galleria dell'Obelisco (Rome), which belonged to Gaspero del Corso, who also had a gallery in New York. In 1956 he was invited to the Venice Biennale, and in 1959 he exhibited in Kassel at Documenta II. At the beginning of the '60s, Pomodoro was an established sculptor with a long curriculum of solo exhibitions throughout Italy and Europe. Pomodoro's more than 100 solo exhibitions include shows at the Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels; the Kölnische Kunstverein in Cologne, and the 1962 Venice Biennale. He has participated in the São Paulo Biennial, and his work has been included in many important museum shows, including "The Italian Metamorphosis 1943-1968" at the Guggenheim Museum. His public sculptures can be found in such cities as Prato, Milan, Frankfurt, Lugano, and Tel Aviv; other works have been acquired by museums and private collections around the world, including the Tate Gallery in London, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC, and the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna in Rome. Years, experience, and success have not dampened his engagement and enthusiasm for experimentation.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Gio Pomodoro by clicking here.

— Laura Tansini (Sculpture Vol. 21, No. 3)

ISC's Lifetime Achievement Award statuette

Nam June Paik

2001 Recipient

A vast influence, originality, and self-generation of ideas have contributed to Nam June Paik’s unique and persistently transformative vision. He appropriated images from commerce and politics into the medium of video without making the result look cynical. Paik sees a reality for the future not in terms of commerce but in terms of deepening our understanding of the human condition. He is a visionary who understands the commercial and ideological forces with which he is dealing. Yet at the same time, he has proven his work capable of resisting those forces. Paik’s vision as an artist is about giving the future back to ordinary human beings who believe in the potential for joy and emotion in the realm of the mind and the senses.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Nam June Paik by clicking here.

—Robert C. Morgan (Sculpture Vol. 20, No.1)

ISC's Lifetime Achievement Award statuette

Mark di Suvero

2000 Recipient

The monumental work of Mark di Suvero concurrently embraces the scale of landscape, technology, and urbanism. di Suvero welds, hoists, balances, and suspends colossal structural elements. Not unlike the orchestration required to build a modern skyscraper, his constructions involve huge pieces of equipment, many laborers, and vigilant coordination. Paradoxically, the heroic effort involved to construct one of his large sculptures is a delicate proposition of poetic inspiration and calculated balance. The pieces engender the bravado and beauty, the heft and vulnerability of both industrial and aesthetic productions. The strenuous, tenacious process of creation, the surprising juxtapositions of stable armatures and swinging elements, and the negotiations of abstract forms and found objects express the contradictions of contemporary life.

—Patricia C. Phillips (Sculpture Vol.15, No.8)

ISC's Lifetime Achievement Award statuette

George Rickey & Kenneth Snelson

1999 Recipients

As one of the world’s foremost kinetic sculptors, sharing much in common with Calder and Tinguely, Rickey emerges as a unique and powerful presence in his own right by focusing on “movement as means.” Less interested in the form of his sculptures than in the patterns of their movement, he also eschews motorized mechanization. His theoretical writings regarding kinetic sculpture combine a unique sensitivity to the forces that define the world with an especially well-developed talent for analytical insight. Over four decades of dedicated experimentation, Rickey has forged a vast body of work, bringing him international acclaim.
—Carla Hanzal (Sculpture Vol.18, No.8)

As works of pure abstraction, Snelson’s sculptures share an objective with much of the abstract art that preceded them. What has distinguished Snelson’s work since its beginning in the early 1960s is a unique combination of lyrical sensibility and an extraordinary pitch of sheer intelligence. This unusual fusion of abilities has created a continuing series of large-scale works that have entered into the common awareness of contemporary sculpture and into museum collections throughout the world. While Snelson’s sculptures are clearly remarkable feats of engineering ingenuity, they are also artistic gestures: shimmering visions of startling beauty.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Kenneth Snelson by clicking here.

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on George Rickey by clicking here.

—Mark Daniel Cohen (Sculpture Vol.18, No.8)

ISC's Lifetime Achievement Award statuette

Eduardo Chillida

1998 Recipient

Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida has earned international commissions and awards for his monumental public sculptures for more than 40 years. His combination of sculptural form and metaphysical significance is integrated with architectural and environmental space to produce distinct urban spaces. Chillida considers his relentless search for the unknown in art to be an adventure in learning, and his sculptural study of temporal and spatial relationships continues to inspire books and essays by leading philosophers. In a recent work at a quarry site in the Canary Islands, the alignment of the work with the sun and moon as they rise over the space and the immense proportions of the work itself are essential elements of his monumental sculpture.

—Sandra Wagner (Sculpture Vol.16, No.9)

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Eduardo Chillida by clicking here.

ISC's Lifetime Achievement Award statuette

Sir Anthony Caro

1997 Recipient

Sir Anthony Caro’s abstract metal constructions are austere, reserved, geometric, industrial; while many works rest atop tables, some recent ones have the girth and heft of a shed. Having first met with some success as a figurative sculptor, by the end of the 1960s he was making a new sort of utterly abstract sculpture. With a horizontal orientation, his work appeared to float, even levitate, just above the ground. Caro brought new ideas to bear on the notion of mass and also made welding a more flexible method. He often empties out the middle of a piece and positions non-representational components as if he were a painter making marks on the left or right edges of a canvas. In some recent works, this British master positions components to create spaces that function as if they were rooms.

—Phyllis Tuchman (Sculpture Vol.16, No.8)

You can read the full Sculpture magazine article on Sir Anthony Caro by clicking here.

ISC's Lifetime Achievement Award statuette

Robert Rauschenberg

1996 Recipient

Sculpture has been Rauschenberg’s primary means of expression from the early ’50s to the present. He has practiced sculpture as traditionally understood, and he has repeatedly extended strict definitions of the medium. With incisiveness, ingenuity, and humor, Rauschenberg changed the course of art history by establishing new genres of sculpture—found object, environmental, theatrical, photographic, and filmic—by including a wide range of contemporary subjects, and by using non-fine art materials along with conventional ones. Rauschenberg’s work is committed to dialogue with the world around him, bridging “the gap between art and life,” as he once explained.

—Miranda McClintic (Sculpture Vol.15, No.5)

ISC's Lifetime Achievement Award statuette

Claes Oldenburg & Coosje van Bruggen

1994 Recipients

Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen began working in partnership in 1976. Together they executed over 50 large-scale, site-specific projects that established direct contact with a wide audience into various urban settings in Europe, Asia, and the United States. The couple transformed iconic, commonplace items such as rubber stamps and tools into humorous public monuments dedicated to the modern experience. Their collaboration extended to smaller-scale park and garden sculptures as well as to indoor installations.

ISC's Lifetime Achievement Award statuette

John Chamberlain

1993 Recipient

Chamberlain’s crushed assemblages of automotive steel have secured him a place in art history and in nearly every major museum collection. Frequently discussed in relation to Abstract Expressionism, these works share a gestural vigor and visceral quality with the paintings of that era. In the world of sculpture, Chamberlain is celebrated for the introduction of non-traditional materials, for an unprecedented sculpture process of clustering and folding metal, and for the bold inclusion of color. Arranging, selecting, and fitting, his artistic vocabulary includes, in addition to his signature crushed metal, foam rubber, Plexiglas, metallic foil, and brown paper bags, as well as methods that include cutting, coiling, crumpling, wadding, smashing, folding, bending, and, more recently, spiraling.

—Suzanne Ramljak (Sculpture Vol.12, No.5)

ISC's Lifetime Achievement Award statuette

George Segal

1992 Recipient

George Segal was one of the most public and private of artists; his works in plaster and other materials and his numerous public commissions are sited all around the world, yet he relentlessly pursued a very personal sculpture, portraying, for the most part, individuals engaged in everyday life. His works address people, not the public. Lovers lie on a bed. A solitary woman peers out a window. A group of silent passengers ride on a bus. Segal’s subject was never popular culture, but rather the individual and his or her emotions. His integrity of expression, which frequently led to controversy, has perhaps been his greatest legacy.

—Elizabeth Wilcox (Sculpture Vol.11, No.5)

ISC's Lifetime Achievement Award statuette

Louise Bourgeois

1991 Recipient

Bourgeois has always had the courage of her convictions; her work comes from an inner force, a profound sense of herself and her times. Women artists particularly have benefited from her independence in creating outside of a mainstream ideology of purity or materialism in an art world that frequently misconstrues function and reality. Bourgeois probes memory, psyche, the visceral, the uncanny. In the span of her long career, with all the shifts and changes in the art world, her art is and has been an indispensable presence—an art that is far-reaching, transcending her own history.

—Nancy Spero (Sculpture Vol.13, No.5)