Leila Grothe

Jurying a prize is a privilege. Contemporary curators have a responsibility to encourageand amplify the work and careers of living artists. At times, that work can feel slow andindirect. But lending my viewpoint to a granting organization like the Hopper Prizeallows for immediate support, both financial and through acknowledgement. It is deeplygratifying to participate in that effort.

We have been invited to select grant winners on the basis of artistic excellence and thepromise of future potential. In looking through the collection of artist submissions, I wasimpressed by the strength in quality and diversity of backgrounds, geographies, intendedaudiences, and levels of training before me. We are, at long last, in a moment ofcollective recognition of the multifarious levels of privilege experienced and expressedby many, and the collection of Hopper Prize applicants affords an opportunity to considera cross section of voices—aesthetic, ethical, technical—that articulate the currentmoment.

When the artists submitted their works for consideration, the nation and much of theworld was in lockdown due to the detonation of the coronavirus. When reviewing thesubmissions, the pandemic of systemic racism was entering global consciousness(particularly for the white and most privileged) and righteous anger seemed as though itmight persuade change. In light of this hope, my selection was geared towards aconsideration of what is possible and relevant in our current moment: from thereinvigoration of painting, to extending the traditions of formalist sculpture, to intricatelypersonal narratives that articulate beauty, tenderness, politics, or the magical.