The Pollock-Krasner Foundation announced that the 2022 Pollock Prize for Creativity is awarded to University of Texas at Austin Studio Art Professor Beili Liu. The $50,000 award is directed towards Liu’s sculptural installation and performance series Dreams of the High North: Between Survival and Belonging, a solo exhibition at the Norwegian national arts and cultural institution Hå Gamle Prestegard, on view from June through September 2023.
The Pollock Prize for Creativity, established in 2016 to honor the artistic legacies of Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock, is given to one artist whose work embodies high creative standards and has a substantial impact on individuals and society. Liu is the fourth recipient of the award. Previous winners are winners include Todd Williamson, Amy Sherald, and Gideon Mendel.
“Beili Liu is an immense talent whose work is both innovative and striking. From addressing environmental concerns to cultural narratives, in her work she encourages new ways of thinking and grappling with our shared histories,” said Ronald D. Spencer, Chairman and CEO of Pollock-Krasner Foundation. “Fostering new work from visual artists is at the core of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation’s mission, and we are delighted to help support her work and exhibition in Norway in the coming year.”
Liu currently serves as the 2021-22 Fulbright Arctic Chair, a Fulbright Distinguished Scholar Fellowship, an award that is among the most prestigious appointments in the Fulbright Scholarship Program. She will be conducting research in Tromsø, Norway and teaching at UiT, the Arctic University of Norway. This research will serve as the basis for her new series, Dreams of the High North: Between Survival and Belonging. The series aims to increase awareness of the fragile balance between human actions and the environment through an exploration of indigenous narratives of the past, present and future. Born in China and working in the United States, Liu’s cross-cultural experience informs her work, which focuses on topics such as being part of a diaspora, assimilation, survival and the ultimate question of otherness versus our shared need for belonging.
“Throughout my career as a visual artist, I have been committed to international and interdisciplinary exchange,” said Liu. “I admire Pollock-Krasner Foundation's inclusive, global-facing mission of supporting artists to develop new work, mount exhibitions, and most importantly, to grow. I am deeply honored and humbled to have received the Pollock Prize for Creativity. The prize will provide essential support for my Arctic research and the development of a pivotal new body of work, Dreams of the High North: Between Survival and Belonging. I hold immense gratitude for this recognition at a significant juncture of my career. I know for certain that my experience and research in the High North will be life-changing and profoundly impact all my future work.”