2026 Winner: Umar Rashid
Umar Rashid is the winner of the inaugural edition of the AMA Artist Award. A prestigious annual initiative introduced to support early to mid-career North American artists, the AMA Artist Award recipient is invited to present a curated showcase of their work at India Art Fair and Tokyo Gendai, two of Asia’s most influential contemporary art fairs. For his showcase Rashid will bring a variety of work including brand new paintings exploring colonial histories of India to New Delhi (5-8 February 2026) and to Tokyo (10-13 September 2026).
The AMA Artist Award is a new platform designed to give invaluable international exposure to artists working today, enabling them to further expand their audiences and networks. With over 40 years of experience in the contemporary art world and nine market-leading events, Angus Montgomery Arts (AMA) is a global leader in organising art fairs, and is uniquely positioned to champion talent. This initiative aims to help further bridge the North American and Asia Pacific art communities by supporting artists to exhibit at India Art Fair and Tokyo Gendai, connecting them with major collectors, patrons and institutional leaders across Asia while deepening AMA’s engagement with the North American market.
The Battle of Los Cabos (Ante up!) Or, The Daquan Maneuver, 2024
A distinguished curatorial committee of leading curators from institutions across North America and Asia selected Rashid’s work for the inaugural award. The committee comprised Rita Gonzalez, Terri and Michael Smooke Curator and Department Head of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, United States; Yuko Hasegawa, Curator and Art Critic, Japan; and Dr. Deepanjana Klein, Director of Acquisitions and Development, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, India.
Commenting on Rashid’s Award, the Curatorial Committee (Rita Gonzalez, Yuko Hasegawa, Dr. Deepanjana Klein) says: “We are honored to present Umar Rashid with the inaugural AMA Artist Award. Rashid’s cross-disciplinary practice creates alternative historical cosmologies, collapsing temporal and geographic boundaries to reassemble colonial narratives from the perspective of the historically silenced. His proposal displayed intellectual clarity, visual vitality; Rashid exemplifies the most compelling direction in contemporary American art, where decolonial thought, narrative figuration, and global visual language converge, making him a natural candidate for this award. As Rashid stands at a pivotal moment in his career, this award is a significant opportunity for him to showcase his urgently relevant work on a global stage and forge meaningful connections with new audiences.”
Apres Ski at the Malcolm X Games, hosted by the Lo Lifes., 2024
Commenting on the Award, Rashid says: “Winning this award is amazing, and unexpected, and I am so happy to be the recipient. I believe that art is a testament of humanity, and in order to get people to understand your work, you must also understand who they are. For that reason, international opportunities like this are very important as they allow you to travel and to embrace a different culture, which not only helps you learn more about what it is that you’re creating, but it helps you to understand and to grow greater ideas for the future.”
About Umar Rashid
Chicago-born Umar Rashid has been around art all his life, having been raised by parents who loved different expressive mediums including acting, painting and illustration. After university, Rashid moved to Los Angeles where he developed his practice; his work has gone on to be collected by major US museums such as the Brooklyn Museum, Santa Barbara Museum of Art and the Nevada Museum of Art. Rashid’s practice centres around historical commentary observed through a post-colonial lens, as he carefully coincides numerous versions of events through expressive paintings.
Umar Rashid is the first recipient of the AMA Artist Award and will have his work displayed at India Art Fair and at Tokyo Gendai in 2026.
To mark Rashid's achievement, we met with him at the opening of his London exhibition at Tiwani Contemporary (open until 17 January) to discuss his career, inspirations and what international opportunities like the AMA Artist Award mean for creatives.
