Mark Bradford Wins Getty Prize

The Los Angeles–based Getty Foundation on November 29 announced Mark Bradford as the recipient of the 2024 Getty Prize, allowing him to name a nonprofit which will receive a $500,000 grant. The award, the organization’s most prestigious, was originally established as the Getty Medal in 2013, in recognition of outstanding contributions to the fields of art, research, conservation, and philanthropy, reflecting the organization’s concerns, and could go to two or three recipients annually. Newly named the Getty Prize, the laurel will now go to just one individual each year, and is intended to recognize cultural leaders whose work fosters understanding and appreciation of arts and culture.RelatedANDY WARHOL FOUNDATION ARTS WRITERS GRANT ANNOUNCES 2023 GRANTEESGENE BEERY (1937–2023) “We are thrilled that the Getty Prize will now recognize not only personal achievements and contributions to the cultural sector but will also actively support the work of other not-for-profit organizations working in the sector by providing the awardee with the opportunity to pay it forward,” said Katherine E. Fleming, president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust in a statement. “Mark Bradford is an exceptional artist whose thought-provoking work often sheds light on societal issues and has captivated audiences in his hometown of Los Angeles and well beyond.” Bradford, a Los Angeles native, investigates the impact of social and political structures on marginalized and vulnerable populations.

He is best known for his massive paintings, or so-called social abstractions, created from layers of paper. The son of a beauty salon owner, he originally started working with the translucent endpapers used by hairdressers, then expanded his purview to include comic books, advertising posters, and maps, among other paper products. Affixing these in layers to the canvas, he then scores and lacerates them. Alongside his artistic practice, Bradford with philanthropist Eileen Harris Norton and neighborhood activist Allan DiCastro, his partner, cofounded the foundation Art + Practice in LA’s Leimert Park. The organization, which focuses on youth about to transition out of foster care, meshes the arts with social services, mounting exhibitions and offering arts programming..