The 2019 installment of the ICA’s biennial James and Audrey Foster Prize exhibition highlighting the work of Boston-area artists will feature four individuals: Rashin Fahandej (b. 1978, Shiraz, Iran), Josephine Halvorson (b. 1981, Brewster, MA), Lavaughan Jenkins (b. 1976, Boston, MA), and Helga Roht Poznanski (b. 1927, Tartu, Estonia). This intergenerational group of artists works across media including painting, sculpture, film, and video to explore questions of place, portraiture, and belonging. Their unique and exceptional work demonstrates the breadth and ecology of contemporary art practices in Boston.

First established in 1999, the James and Audrey Foster Prize is central to the ICA/Boston’s efforts to nurture and recognize local artists, showcase exceptional artwork, and support a thriving local arts scene. In the course of selecting these artists, Curator Ruth Erickson had the pleasure of conducting fifty studio visits with the following artists, and she would like to thank each of them for sharing their time and their work:
 
Sonia Almeida, Hartmut Austen, Clint Baclawski, Gerry Bergstein, Stephanie Cardon, Cyrille Conan, Furen Dai, Taylor Davis, Cathy Della Lucia, Sean Downey, Tory Fair, Andrew Fish, Aristotle Forrester, Ariel Freiberg, Lina Maria Giraldo, Sean Glover, Garrett Gould, Jesse Aron Green, Dell Hamilton, Elisa Hamilton, Ekua Holmes, Rebecca Hutchinson, Masako Kamiya, Woomin Kim, Timothy McCool, Susan Metrican, Maria Molteni, Elizabeth Mooney, Yuko Oda; Anthony Palocci, Jr., Roberta Paul, Jeff Perrott, Rachel Perry, Rosamond Purcell, Anabel Vázquez Rodríguez, Zoe Pettijohn Schade, Jeannie Simms, Alexandria Smith, Gabriel Sosa, Jessica Tam, Chanel Thervil, Jamal Thorne, Clarissa Tossin, Joe Wardwell, Keith Washington, and Yu-Wen Wu.