Bucksbaum Prize - Brief Article

The Whitney Museum of American Art presented the first winner of the Bucksbaum Award of $100,000 and a residency to Paul Pfeiffer of Brooklyn, New York on May 1. The prize will be given every two years during the Whitney Biennial to an emerging artist living and working in the U.S. whose work is included in the show.

Melva Bucksbaum, a Whitney trustee since 1996, runs the Bucksbaum Family Foundation of Des Moines that established the prize. Thirty-four-year-old Pfeiffer uses photography, sculpture, video, computer photo-collage and digital technology to explore the human body and psyche. Although the award follows a growing trend of significant museum support for artists such as London's Tate Gallery's annual Turner prize, hopefully it will not befall a similar fate as the Guggenheim's $50,000 Hugo Boss prize that dissolved after only two awards were given.

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