Joe Minter, And He Hung His Head and Died, 1999. Welded found metal. 96 x 76 ½ x 34 ½ in.
Presented by Souls Grown Deep.
Industrial steel brackets are pierced by garage nails to reimagine Jesus being crucified on the hill of Calvary between two thieves, fulfilling Old Testament prophecy. One thief mocked Jesus, demanding salvation for the pair of thieves, while the other rebuked him, upholding their punishment and Jesus’ innocence. Rust represents blood to invoke suffering.
The eight-foot-tall welded metal sculpture, And He Hung His Head and Died (1999) by self-taught artist Joe Minter conveys the journey of Africans and African-Americans in the United States. Minter began working on his “African Village in America” sculpture garden in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1989, retelling and transforming history. Minter, who believes his artistic practice is directed by God, creates sculpture from found objects that may contain the spirits of the people who have touched them.
His powerful, visceral visual narrative displayed in the Platform section and presented by Souls Grown Deep (SGD) at The Armory Show was awarded the The Pommery Prize. The $10,000 award, given by Champagne Pommery, was announced last night with a bubbly toast during the VIP preview. SGD amplifies and empowers Black artists from the American South, promoting visibility, scholarship, and education about their contributions to art history and fostering economic development and racial and social justice in the communities where these artists were born, raised, and nurtured.
Such hard-earned recognition is especially relevant and critical as the United States faces ongoing racial strife and political turmoil threatening funding to the arts which underscores the ongoing need to celebrate marginalized and underrepresented artists.
The Armory Show opened to the public today and is on view through September 7 at the Javits Center in New York. Seeking to showcase an array of artists, The Armory Show is focused on seven sections:
Galleries: Leading international galleries presenting outstanding 20th and 21st-century artworks across various media.
Solo: Intimate presentations focus on the work of a single emerging, established, or historic artist working in the 20th or 21st century.
Focus: This year highlights artists and galleries of the American South, examining the region’s transformative contemporary American art scene.
Function: A new section exploring the intersection of art and design, and considering artistic practices from a design perspective.
Presents: Spotlighting galleries that have emerged in the last decade, including recent work in solo-and-dual artist presentations.
Platform: Featuring large-scale sculptures, installations, and site-specific works at the center of the fair.
Not-For-Profit: Museums, not-for-profit galleries, and art foundations which share a collective goal of promoting the visual arts to collectors and the general public.
Other artists celebrated yesterday include:
Joel Gaitan, Ella Me Devolvió Al Paraíso Terrenal, 2025. Ceramic, Underglaze, Glaze and Gold Luster, 23.5 x 16 x 18 in.
Presented by The Pit, Glendale, California
The SAUER Art Prize, donated by the Brazilian jewelry house, awarded $10,000 to Joel Gaitan, whose work was presented by The Pit, an artist-run contemporary art gallery in Glendale, California, and featured in the Focus section. The ceramic, underglaze, glaze, and gold luster, Ella Me Devolvió Al Paraíso Terrenal (Spanish for “She Brought Me Back To Earthly Paradise”) (2025), traces ancestral lineage through traditional Nicaraguan and Central American clay techniques that preserve erased cultures in a colonized world.
RF. Alvarez, whose work is presented by Martha’s, an Austin gallery showcasing emerging artists, was granted The Armory Show x Delfina Foundation Artist Residency Prize. We’re Still Here! (2025), a sumptuous acrylic on raw linen, reveals sensual tension within the central Texas landscape.
RF. Alvarez, We’re Still Here!, 2025. Acrylic on raw linen.
Presented by Martha’s, Austin
The prize, given in collaboration with the London-based non-profit foundation dedicated to facilitating artistic exchange and developing creative practice through residencies, partnerships, and public programming, is awarded to artists from or based in the Southern United States who are showing with galleries participating in the Focus section. This prestigious, twelve-week residency in London during 2026 is funded by Suzanne McFayden, an author, humanitarian, and renowned collector of modern and contemporary art, and Delfina Foundation’s Network of North America Patrons.
