Farah Al-Qasimi Wins 2018 New Art Dealers Alliance Artadia Award

Emirati artist Farah al-Qasimi was announced winner of the New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) Artadia Award on March 8, 2018, at the opening of the NADA New York art fair. The prize is presented semiannually at the NADA shows in New York and Miami Beach.

Born in Abu Dhabi in 1991 to a Lebanese-American mother and Emirati father, al-Qasimi graduated with a Master of Fine Arts from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Inspired by experiences of dislocation arising from her mixed heritage, she has become known for her vibrant, nostalgic and intimate photographs of people and spaces, which explore belonging, wealth and power in her home country and the broader Gulf region.

Al-Qasimi received USD 5,000 as part of the unrestricted prize, which is co-organized by non-profit art organizations NADA and Artadia to provide financial support to contemporary visual artists. Winners are also eligible for lifetime benefits under the Artadia Awards program, including access to the association’s network of art world professionals across the United States, and the chance to participate in ongoing projects and exhibitions.

Al-Qasimi’s work was presented at NADA New York 2018 by Helena Anrather Gallery, which also organized the artist’s first solo show in the city in 2017. She was selected as the winner by a two-person jury comprised of New Museum’s associate curator, Natalie Bell, and Dia Art Foundation’s associate curator, Alexis Lowry. According to Artadia’s selection criteria, recipients of the prize must demonstrate “rigorous engagement with a set of ideas embodied in materials, a depth of practice and a clearly articulated and developed voice.”

Previous NADA Artadia winners include painters Josh Mannis and Summer Wheat, as well as Detroit-based What Pipeline, a gallery founded by artists Alivia Zivich and Daniel Sperry.

Ophelia Lai is an editor at ArtAsiaPacific.

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