Alma Allen, a self-taught Utah-born sculptor based in Mexico, has been confirmed as the U.S. representative for the 61st Venice Biennale, opening in May. His pavilion exhibition, titled “Alma Allen: Call Me the Breeze,” will be curated by Jeffrey Uslip and commissioned by Jenni Parido of the American Arts Conservancy. Allen’s selection is notably unconventional: he has no major museum solo exhibitions and was dropped by his galleries, Mendes Wood and Olney Gleason, after accepting the commission. The U.S. State Department’s brief release frames the presentation as highlighting “alchemical transformation of matter” and “elevation,” aligning with the Trump Administration’s focus on “American excellence.”
This appointment matters because it signals a shift in how the U.S. selects its Venice Biennale artists, amid new State Department requirements that proposals “reflect and promote American values” and avoid diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Allen’s outsider status—self-taught, working outside the mainstream art world, and now gallery-less—makes his selection both a bold statement and a potential bellwether for political influence on cultural diplomacy. The controversy over his galleries dropping him also underscores the tension between institutional expectations and artistic independence.