Trevor Paglen Wins 2026 LG Guggenheim Award
30March 17, 2026
Multidisciplinary artistTrevor Paglen, known for his work investigating the hidden systems of tech and power, has been named the winner of the fourthLG Guggenheim Award. Established in 2023 by New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and South Korean tech company LG as part of the LG Guggenheim Art and Technology Initiative, a five-year program aimed at discovering and elevating artists working at the intersection of art and technology, the honor is accompanied by an unrestricted $100,000 award.
Born in 1974 in Camp Springs, Maryland, Paglen through a practice encompassing photography, simulation, remote sensing, sculpture, writing, research, and engineering, explores and exposes digitally invisible structures that shape contemporary political and social life. He joins previous winners Ayoung Kim, Shu Lea Cheang, and Stephanie Dinkins.
“Trevor Paglen’s long-term, pioneering practice has persistently evolved throughout his career, demonstrating an exceptional commitment to innovation, critical reflection, and conceptual complexity,” said the prize jury in a statement. “Over previous decades, his work has explored the liminal space of digital photography, interrogating the structures of seeing through questions of visibility, perception, and lens-based technologies. With the emergence of large language models and contemporary AI systems, Paglen’s practice has expanded to engage deeply with advanced data analytics, computer vision, and the underlying architectures that shape our modes of perception.”
“This is very expensive work to do, Paglen told Artnews. “The R&D costs are insane. So this definitely helps me fund a project I didn’t know how to fund, one that’s pretty expensive. That’s really exciting.”
This year’s jury comprised Mami Kataoka, director of Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum; Melanie Lenz, curator of digital art at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum; researcher, writer, and curator Rasha Salti, who was curatorial advisor to the late Koyo Kouoh, artistic director of this year’s Venice Biennale; Noam Segal, LG Electronics Associate Curator, Guggenheim New York; and Eugenio Viola, formerly the artistic director of the Bogotá Museum of Modern Art.
Paglen will present a performance-lecture titled “The Lizard People Are Here!” at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, on May 18.