Meriem Bennani wins first Boss Award for Outstanding Achievement at Art Basel Miami Beach

Art Basel’s first-ever Awards Night in Miami Beach brought a new fashion–art crossover moment: the debut of the Boss Award for Outstanding Achievement, which went to Moroccan-born, New York–based artist Meriem Bennani. The honour was presented by Hugo Boss CEO Daniel Grieder and Creative Director Marco Falcioni as part of the brand’s broader partnership with the fair.

Bennani’s practice—spanning video, animation, sound, sculpture and immersive installations—has long drawn attention for its sharp humour and digitally fluent storytelling. Her worlds collapse the everyday, the absurd and the political into something playful yet pointed, a sensibility that has made her one of the most closely watched voices in contemporary art.

In receiving the award, Bennani said she was “deeply honoured,” noting the importance of platforms that support experimental work and amplify emerging and underrepresented voices. The recognition, she added, encourages her “to continue creating work that challenges perspectives and celebrates the beauty of collective experiences.” The Boss Award is positioned as a distinction for artists whose work cuts across cultural boundaries and resonates beyond the traditional art ecosystem. Eligibility extends to living artists working in any medium, with emphasis on practices generating momentum and cross-disciplinary impact.

The prize totals 100,000 US dollars, half directed to a community or cause chosen by the winner, and half dedicated to a new project or cultural activation developed together with Boss. It’s a structure that mirrors the brand’s ongoing attempts to frame its creative partnerships around “purpose, boldness and responsibility,” as Falcioni described in Miami.

This year marked the first edition of the Art Basel Awards, recognising 36 medalists across nine categories that span artists, curators, institutions, collectors, patrons, media and cross-disciplinary creatives. Through a peer-voting process, medalists selected 11 Gold Awardees, celebrated at the ceremony held at the New World Center. Guests included a mix of art-world insiders and Boss ambassadors, among them Khalid, Kimberly Drew, Christina Najjar, Gabrielle Richardson, Ethan Gaskill and Carlita, all in head-to-toe Boss.

A highlight of the evening was an immersive installation titled “1995–2025: 30 Years of Arts Sponsorship,” charting the brand’s three decades of engagement with contemporary art. The walkway revisited milestones from James Rosenquist’s 1998 Paper Suit to the long-running Hugo Boss Prize with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, as well as the Hugo Boss Asia Art Award in Shanghai.

For Art Basel, the new awards programme signals an ambition to formalise cultural influence across disciplines; for Boss, it’s another step in embedding the brand’s fashion identity into the broader creative landscape.