Alma Allen Chosen for the U.S. Pavilion at Venice Biennale 2026

Alma Allen will represent the United States at the 2026 Venice Biennale. The American Arts Conservancy, working with the U.S. Department of State, organizes the pavilion, and Jeffrey Uslip curates the exhibition. Titled Call Me the Breeze, the presentation runs from May 9 through November 22, 2026.

ART

Allen brings new sculptural works shaped for the interior and exterior of the U.S. Pavilion. The project includes a major outdoor piece developed for the pavilion’s forecourt. The exhibition reflects Allen’s long engagement with material and form, shaped through three decades of sculptural practice. He continues to explore the relationship between geological matter, scale, and process, which defines the direction of this new body of work.

Allen works with materials rooted in the Americas. He includes American walnut burl, Cantera verde volcanic stone, and Colorado Yule marble, which also appears in major U.S. monuments. He uses a hybrid approach that combines hand-carving with advanced robotic processes. This method allows him to shape raw material into forms that evolve from weight, density, and surface character.

Call Me the Breeze takes shape within the context of America 250, the United States Semiquincentennial, which marks 250 years since the nation’s founding. The pavilion acknowledges this historic year through a project centered on material origin, geological history, and sculptural form. Allen guides the exhibition through the physical qualities of stone and wood rather than through symbolic imagery, allowing material structure to set the tone for the pavilion.

Uslip shapes the exhibition with close attention to site. The outdoor sculpture introduces the project at the entrance, while the interior works form a focused environment shaped by scale, weight, and material variation. The presentation brings together new sculptures that respond directly to the pavilion’s architecture and its position within the Giardini.

When the exhibition opens in May 2026, the U.S. Pavilion will present Call Me the Breeze as a unified project shaped through geological material, long-term practice, and the specific context of the Biennale. Allen’s work invites visitors to engage with form, surface, and the physical properties of the materials that shape this presentation.