BOSS introduces outstanding achievement award during Art Basel 2025, bringing Art Basel Awards and contemporary art to a wider audience
BOSS is proud to announce the establishment of the BOSS AWARD for Outstanding Achievement in the world of contemporary art. Each year, as part of the annual Art Basel Awards cycle, Art Basel and BOSS will present the BOSS Award for Outstanding Achievement, conceived by BOSS in partnership with Art Basel Awards. This award celebrates work that pairs global visibility with purpose-driven vision—and embodies the values of BOSS: boldness, personal authenticity, ambition, and responsibility. The award honors a singular work, produced within the last 18 months, that has catalyzed cultural change at the intersection of art, technological innovation, social dialogue, and identity. Selected by a jury from a pool of nominees recognized by Art Basel for their artistic skill and momentum, the award will recognize an artist, designer, or interdisciplinary practitioner whose recent work has made a significant impact beyond the contemporary art world, becoming a touchstone across fashion, art, commerce, and mass culture.
The new BOSS AWARD for Outstanding Achievement was revealed last night at Kunstmuseum Basel in Basel, Switzerland, at the debut Art Basel Awards Medalist Reception. The premier event was hosted by Art Basel in honor of the 36 inaugural Art Basel Awards Medalists named last month.
The prize is open to all living artists, working in any medium, including Art Basel Awards Medalists in the artist and cross-disciplinary creator categories. Nominations and final selection for the award will be made by a dedicated jury, appointed by BOSS and Art Basel, including Marco Falcioni, Senior Vice President of Creative Direction at HUGO BOSS, and representatives from the art world.
Carrying a prize value of US$100,000, the BOSS AWARD for Outstanding Achievement will empower the awardee to amplify voices beyond their own, with a reward of US$50,000 to be directed to a community or cause of the artist’s choosing. The remaining US$50,000 will be invested in a project, commission, or cultural activation by the artist, co-developed with BOSS.
“The BOSS AWARD for Outstanding Achievement and our partnership with Art Basel Awards allows us to engage actively with culture, and connect with our fans beyond fashion. It aligns BOSS with forward-thinking and culturally relevant creativity, echoing our brand values of innovation, style leadership, and authenticity. The BOSS AWARD recipient will also be a ‘BOSS’ who shares these qualities,” says Marco Falcioni, Senior Vice President of Creative Direction at HUGO BOSS.
Launched earlier this year, Art Basel Awards confers honors to Medalists across nine categories spanning the contemporary art industry—path-breaking artists, cross-disciplinary creators, curators, institutions, patrons, media and storytellers, and behind-the-scenes allies who are shaping the next generation of cutting-edge artistry. Medals reward ongoing practices and contributions which are actively redefining or show significant potential to redefine artistic horizons. Later this year, the Medalists will pilot a peer-driven process, whereby they will vote to select 12 Gold Medalists from among themselves, representing Art Basel Awards' highest honor.
Vincenzo de Bellis, Chief Artistic Officer and Global Director of Art Basel Fairs, and Chair of Art Basel Awards, says, “The BOSS AWARD for Outstanding Achievement is a powerful addition the Art Basel Awards ecosystem—honoring a recent work that broke through the cultural mainstream and significantly influenced conversations across art and society. This collaboration underscores Art Basel Awards' commitment to recognizing bold artistic practices that are still evolving, still unfolding, and already driving real-world impact. Together, we aim to amplify the voices redefining contemporary culture and expand the global reach and resonance of boundary-pushing creative work."
As presenting partner of Art Basel Awards, BOSS aims to recognize those driving the future of art through their pioneering vision, skill, and impact on the broader cultural landscape. The HUGO BOSS Group has a 30-year history of art sponsorship. BOSS’s support of Art Basel Awards represents a new level of commitment, and a continuation of the company’s dedication to inspiring discovery and dialog at the intersection of fashion and art. It provides BOSS with the opportunity to back artists, organizations, and initiatives with distinct perspectives, making a real-world impact, and to align with cutting-edge cultural voices and aesthetic innovators. They also aim to help amplify contemporary art among broader global cultural audiences.
The BOSS AWARD for Outstanding Achievement will be presented alongside the Art Basel Awards Gold Medals in December 2025, at the Official Night of the Art Basel Awards in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.
High-resolution images can be downloaded from:
https://press-service.hugoboss.com/press-portal-pages/boss/Spring-Summer-2025/The-Art-Basel-Awards.html
About BOSS and HUGO BOSS:
BOSS is made for bold, self-determined individuals who live life on their own terms, with passion, style, and purpose. Collections offer dynamic, modern designs for those that embrace who they are fully and unapologetically: as their own BOSS. The brand’s heritage tailoring, performance suiting, casualwear, denim, athleisure, and accessories cater to the style needs of the discerning consumer. Licensed fragrances, eyewear, watches, and kidswear complete the brand. The world of BOSS can be experienced in around 500 own stores worldwide. BOSS is the core brand of HUGO BOSS, one of the leading companies positioned in the premium segment of the global apparel market. The group offers collections in 129 countries at more than 8,000 points of sale and online in 74 countries via hugoboss.com. With more than 18,500 employees worldwide, the company, based in Metzingen (Germany), posted sales of EUR 4.3 billion in the fiscal year 2024.
About Art Basel Awards:
Launched by Art Basel in 2025, Art Basel Awards is the world's first global honors dedicated to recognizing excellence across the contemporary art world. Each year, an International Jury of experts awards Medals to individuals and organizations spanning the industry whose practices and contributions are shaping the future of art. Medalists are selected against four key pillars: vision and innovation, skill and execution, engagement, and broader impact. Art Basel Awards confers both immediate, flexible support in the form of honorariums alongside global networking, philanthropic initiatives, tailored partnerships, and high-profile commissions designed to propel Medalists' work onto new platforms. Medalists are recognized globally by Art Basel through year-round campaigns and initiatives, including the Art Basel Awards Summit, the annual thought leadership conference for the most influential figures in the global art world and neighboring creative industries, held in Basel, Switzerland. Art Basel Awards is presented in partnership with BOSS. For more information, visit artbaselawards.com.
For the latest updates, follow @artbaselawards on Instagram and WeChat.
#ArtBaselAwards
About Art Basel:
Founded in 1970 by gallerists from Basel, Art Basel today stages the world’s premier art shows for Modern and contemporary art, sited in Basel, Miami Beach, Hong Kong, Paris, and Qatar. Defined by its host city and region, each show is unique, which is reflected in its participating galleries, artworks presented, and the content of parallel programming produced in collaboration with local institutions for each edition. Art Basel’s engagement has expanded beyond art fairs through new digital platforms including the Art Basel App and initiatives such as the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report, Art Basel Awards, and Art Basel Shop. Art Basel’s Global Lead Partner is UBS. For more information, visit artbasel.com.
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