The gallery is pleased to announce that Edra Soto has received the Foundwork Artist Prize. The Foundwork Artist Prize is an annual juried award that we inaugurated in 2019 to recognize outstanding practice by contemporary artists. The honoree receives an unrestricted 10,000 USD grant and studio visits with the distinguished jurors. The honoree and three short-listed artists are also featured in interviews as part of our Dialogues program.
Born in Puerto Rico and based in Chicago, Edra Soto creates conceptually rich installations and audience-responsive projects that explore the ways in which identity is expressed, and shaped, by the objects of daily life. Soto's work is rooted in a deep commitment both to community building and to a continuous, almost meditative observation of social patterns. Whether re-situating urban architecture from San Juan, inviting museum-goers to decorate liquor bottles gathered on the streets of Chicago, or welcoming neighbors to play dominos in a Harlem gallery, Soto's work embodies a sort of poetic sociology that leaves a lasting impression on those who are fortunate to experience it.