Who is Alma Allen, Trump's Pick to Represent the US at the Venice Biennale?

"Following a fraught selection cycle, the US Department of State on Monday confirmed that Utah-born, Mexico-based sculptor Alma Allen will represent the United States at the 2026 Venice Biennale. The prestigious exhibition opens next May, when scores of curators, collectors, and journalists descend on the lagoon city to judge not only the quality of art on display, but the politics communicated by each national pavilion at the world's top international art event."

"In the context of the ideological re-weaving of arts and culture under President Trump, the choice of the US representative offers a prism through which to read his priorities, especially when this year's guidelines were updated to include that proposals should "advance international understanding of American values by exposing foreign audiences to innovative and compelling works of art that reflect and promote American values.""

"Born and raised in Herber City, Utah, in 1970, Allen lived for several years in Joshua Tree, California; and Tepoztlán, roughly 50 miles from Mexico City, where he has a studio complete with a bronze foundry. He makes sculptures that take on abstract, biomorphic forms. His presentation at the 2014 Whitney Biennale resembled primordial oceanic organisms, though elsewhere he favors shapes that evoke the woodlands. Largely self-taught, he employs a wide-range of production techniques, from hand-carvings to robotic-assisted fabrication when the scale calls for it."

Alma Allen was confirmed by the US Department of State to represent the United States at the 2026 Venice Biennale following a fraught selection cycle. The Biennale opens in May 2026 and attracts curators, collectors, and journalists who assess both artistic quality and national pavilion politics. Guidelines updated under President Trump call for proposals that advance international understanding of American values. Allen was born in Herber City, Utah, in 1970 and has lived in Joshua Tree and Tepoztlán, where he maintains a studio with a bronze foundry. He creates abstract, biomorphic sculptures, shown at the 2014 Whitney Biennale, using techniques from hand-carving to robotic-assisted fabrication. Press materials describe his approach as "spontaneous" and "compulsory," and his career rose from selling hand-carved miniatures in Soho to a Whitney breakthrough.

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