Paul Chan, an artist born in Hong Kong, raised in Nebraska and now based in New York, has been awarded the 2014 Hugo Boss Prize at a ceremony at the Guggenheim museum in New York. The prize, offered by the Guggenheim Foundation and given every two years, awards an artist the sum of $100,000. A solo exhibition of Chan’s work will be on show at the museum in Spring next year.
Paul Chan is known both as an artist and as a political activist. In 2002, he spent a month in Baghdad with the aid group Voices in the Wilderness; in 2004, he helped create “The People’s Guide to the Republican National Convention”—a map for political protestors. His animation and film works, in particular, have addressed US socio-political culture. Chan’s work in other media includes sculpture, light projection and community-based performances. Chan also recently founded an experimental print and e-book publisher called Badlands Unlimited.
Chan was chosen out of a group of five finalists for the Hugo Boss Prize—the other artists put forward were Sheela Gowda, Camille Henrot, Hassan Khan and Charline von Heyl. The jury, composed of international curators and museum directors and chaired by Nancy Spector and Jennifer and David Stockman (Deputy Director and Chief Curators of the Guggenheim Foundation, respectively), praised Chan’s “Singular artistic voice.” They added, “Regardless of platform, each of Chan’s indelible and at times provocative projects deftly excavates our cultural landscape. We applaud his unfettered commitment to experimentation and look forward to the continued evolution of his practice.”
Source: Guggenheim Museum
Following the announcement of the award, a post appeared on the website of Badlands Unlimited—the Brooklyn (New York) based publishing house run by Paul Chan: “Badlands asked Chan to comment on winning the prize and how he feels about the success. Chan replied, ‘I’m afraid the success comes from a complete misunderstanding of my work.’ 
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Source: Badlands Unlimited
Paul Chan, “Sade for Sade’s sake”, digital color projection, 5 hours, 45 min, 2009. Installation view: Greene Naftali, New York, 2009. Courtesy the artist and Greene Naftali, New York. Photo: Gil Blank.
