Congratulations to Sean Meehan, an improvising percussionist and sound artist with a shaman's knack for conjuring entire worlds out of meager base elements—the video above is a perfect example. As announced in an Artforum article published late this afternoon (and shared by Sarah Hennies on Twitter this evening), Meehan has been named one of five new recipients of a 2020 Grants to Artists award, presented by the Foundation for Contemporary Arts (FCA), an organization founded by John Cage and Jasper Johns in 1963.
From the biography of Meehan posted on the FCA website:
Sean Meehan is a drummer who most notably plays a pared-down kit often consisting of a single snare drum and cymbal, creating sounds that range from the subtle friction of a fork rubbing against a drum to tones that seem electronically-generated. These complex, sometimes subtle sonorities require a great deal of concentration for the performer and listener, foregrounding the act of listening just as much as the production of sound, and bringing the audience’s attention to both spatial acoustics and social interactions within a space.
Further recipients in the category of Music/Sound include another artist whose work I've admired, the Los Angeles-based Mexican "extreme vocalist," intermedia artist, and ensemble founder Carmina Escobar, plus three more whose work I'm excited to explore: Ngọc Đại, Julianne Swartz, and Marshall Trammell.
In addition, the sublime composer, performer, and choreographer Meredith Monk was named the recipient of this year's John Cage Award. As explained in the Artforum article, all of the grant recipients were chosen through an anonymous two-part nomination and selection process, and each is provided with $40,000 in unrestricted funding.
Congratulations all around!
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