Alma Allen (photo by Ana Hop, courtesy American Arts Conservancy)
Alma Allen, a Utah-born sculptor living in Mexico, will represent the United States at the 2026 Venice Biennale following several setbacks in the selection process for the 61st iteration of the event, the US Department of State announced today, November 24.
Allen’s pavilion, the Department of State said, will feature “site-responsive” sculptures that “explore the concept of ‘elevation’ … as a physical manifestation of form and as a symbol of collective optimism and self-realization, furthering the Trump Administration’s focus on showcasing American excellence.”
Allen’s selection for the international art competition marks the culmination of a chaotic selection cycle complicated by President Trump’s new guidelines for artists, including restrictions on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and a mandate to promote “American exceptionalism.”
In an interview with the New York Times, Allen alleged that his two former representing galleries, Olney Gleason and Mendes Wood DM, asked him not to take the commission and dropped him from their rosters after he accepted.
Both galleries confirmed to Hyperallergic that they are no longer representing Allen, but declined to comment on whether the artist’s commission played a role in their decision to part ways.
”Alma Allen has a singular artistic practice and we are happy to see him receive this recognition, especially after working with him for so many years at Kasmin,” said Nicholas Olney of Olney Gleason, the new gallery he co-founded following Kasmin’s closure. “While Olney Gleason does not represent Alma, we wish him all the best.”
Luiz Guilherme Rodrigues, associate director of Communications at Mendes Wood DM, said, “We are not currently working with Alma Allen, and we don’t have any involvement in or information about his current or future projects.”
Titled “Alma Allen: Call Me the Breeze,” the pavilion is organized by its commissioner, Jodi Parido of the American Arts Conservancy, and curated by Jeffrey Uslip, former deputy director of exhibitions at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis.
Cameroonian curator Koyo Kouoh was originally tapped to oversee the pavilion last year under the Biden administration, and was slated to become the first African woman to do so. However, the position became vacant when Kouoh died suddenly earlier this year.
Uslip resigned from his post at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis in 2016 after the institution reportedly faced accusations of racial insensitivity associated with a Kelley Walker exhibition he had curated. Protesters had called for Uslip’s dismissal and for a public boycott of the museum over the exhibition, which featured images of police brutality toward Black individuals, with some photographs smeared in chocolate and toothpaste.
Allen told the Times that he had not applied to the commission and that Uslip had approached him with an offer. Traditionally, artists are asked to submit a formal proposal. The artist and curator had never met before, and Allen said he accepted the offer quickly.
Hyperallergic has contacted Uslip and Allen for comment.
Allen, who lives and works out of Tepoztlán uses stone, wood, and bronze to create biomorphic sculptures, sometimes sourcing materials from quarries near his studio in Mexico. His works are in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Palm Springs Art Museum, among others.
New York City-based sculptor Robert Lazzarini and curator John Ravenal were originally eyed by the Trump Department of State for the festival, according to the Washington Post, but a funding agreement with a third party reportedly collapsed, and the commission fell through before it was made official.
Tagged: Featured, Venice Biennale
Isa Farfan
Isa Farfan is a staff reporter for Hyperallergic. In May 2024, she graduated from Barnard College, where she studied Political Science and English and served as the Columbia Daily Spectator's Arts &... More by Isa Farfan
