Ayoung Kim, who has garnered international acclaim for her innovative media art practice that employs fiction as a critical lens to interrogate the present, has been selected as the only Korean recipient of the ‘2026 CHANEL Next Prize.’
 
CHANEL Next Prize is a biennial award that recognises contemporary artists who are redefining their disciplines. It reflects Chanel’s commitment to nurturing the next generation of leading artistic voices by offering sustained, long-term support alongside an intensive two-year mentorship program.

Each recipient receives €100,000 in unrestricted funding, intended to enable the realization of new projects without constraints. This year’s jury comprised Tate Modern International Art Curator Alvin Li, British Film Institute (BF) Chief Executive Officer Ben Roberts, Serpentine Galleries Artistic Director Hans Ulrich Obrist, artist Cao Fei, and actress Tilda Swinton.
 
This year’s cohort of winners, comprising artists from a wide range of disciplines, includes visual artists Álvaro Urbano, Pan Daijing, Emeka Ogboh, and Pol Taburet; musician Ambrose Akinmusire; choreographers Andrea Peña and Marco da Silva Ferreira, fashion designer Bárbara Sánchez-Kane, and filmmaker Payal Kapadia.

Meanwhile, Ayoung Kim’s first solo exhibition in the United States 《Ayoung Kim: Delivery Dancer’s Codex》, which has received critical acclaim from leading international publications including The New York Times, ARTnews, Artforum, and Frieze Magazine, is on view at MoMA PS1 through March 16.
 
In addition, Kim will participate, alongside Kang Seung Lee and Woosung Lee, in a group exhibition 《Spectrosynthesis Seoul》 at Art Sonje Center from March 20 to June 28.

References

• 갤러리현대 보도자료 (Gallery Hyundai Press Release)
• 2026 샤넬 넥스트 프라이즈 (2026 CHANEL Next Prize)