Jorge Pardo, a recipient of the 2010 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, at home in Los Angeles in 2007. Image courtesy of the New York Times.–>

On Monday, September 27, the honorees were announced for the 2010 MacArthur Fellowship, nicknamed the “Genius Grant.” Among the recipients of this prestigious awatrd is Cuban-born installation artist Jorge Pardo. The grant provides each honoree $500,000, divided evenly over five years. It is given to individuals who “show exceptional merit and promise for continued and enhanced creative work.” Pardo, who lives and works in Los Angeles, is perhaps best known for his redesigned spaces, which eliminate boundaries between architecture, fine art and design.

Jorge Pardo’s “Penelope” in Liverpool’s Wolstenholme Square. Image courtesy of Art Info.

More text and image after the jump…

Jorge Pardo. Image courtesy of The Washington Post.

Twelve men and 11 women were named MacArthur fellows this year. Since the beginning of the program in 1981, 828 Americans ranging from 18 to 82 years of age have been named. Headed by John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur, “The fellowship is not a reward for past accomplishment, but rather an investment in a person’s originality, insight, and potential.”

Pardo is in good company: other honorees this year in the artistic category include sculptor Elizabeth Turk and stone carver Nicolas Benson, as well as typographer Matthew Carter, who is best known for designing the typeface used for headlines in the New York Times. Past recipients of the grant have included James Turrell (1984), Bill Viola (1989), Kara Walker (1997), Janine Antoni (1998), Ida Appelbroog (1998), Elizabeth Murray (1999), Fred Wilson (1999), Tara Donovan (2008), and Mark Bradford (2009).

In his 2008 exhibition at Haunch of Venison in London, Pardo presented a series of objects relating to the house and its surrounding landscape, including large-scale mask relief-sculptures, based on traditional Mayan imagery, as well as intricate lamps and life-size photo murals. The artist also displayed his designed tiles, floors and other decorative elements.”I don’t think of sculpture as something that you walk around or inside of or anything. What’s important… is the space that gets privileged,” the artist has said.

Jorge Pardo, Untitled, 2008, Silkscreen on MDF, 265 x 370 cm. Image courtesy of Haunch of Venison.

Jorge Pardo, Untitled, 2008, PETG recycled plastic and acrylic, Dimensions variable. Image courtesy of Haunch of Venison.

Pardo’s 2008 redesign of the Latin American galleries at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Image courtesy the New York Times.

Pardo’s 2008 redesign of the Latin American galleries at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Image courtesy the New York Times.

Pardo’s redesign of the lobby and bookstore of the Dia building in Chelsea. Image courtesy of the Los Angeles Times.

-J. Lindblad

Related Links:

MacArthur ‘Genius’ Grants Go to 23 [New York Times]
Joe Pardo and Other Artists Snag MacArthur “Genius” Grants [Art Info]
Jorge Pardo Gets 2010 MacArthur ‘Genius’ Award [Los Angeles Times]
New York’s Shrinking Share of MacArthur Genius Winners [Wall Street Journal]
Meet the MacArthur Fellows [The Washington Post]
People to Watch: MacArthur’s Newest Geniuses [The Atlantic]
Producer David Simon, Director David Cromer Win $500,000 Genius Grant [Bloomberg]
Ancient Art, Served On a Present-Day Platter [New York Times]