National Sculpture Society awards the 2025 Stanley Bleifeld Memorial Grant to Entang Wiharso. NSS members Warren King, Richard Becker and Mardie Rees served as this year’s jurors.

The Grant is awarded to a sculptor with outstanding ability who has created a body of work inspired by nature which includes works of sculpture in bas-relief and in the round. Wiharso’s recent work focuses on the duality of cultures and experiences in his two homelands – Indonesia and America. His sculpture suggests the interconnectedness of nature and history through a sustained exploration of landscape. NSS board member, Janice Mauro, says, “Reflecting on the mixture of narrative possibilities that unfold in the nuance of each painstaking detail of Wiharso’s work is well worth the time.”

In 1994, Wiharso received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Indonesian Institute of the Arts. In 1996, he became the youngest artist to receive a solo exhibition at the National Gallery of Indonesia. Wiharso has participated in biennial exhibitions including Kunming Biennale (2018-19); Prospect.3 (2014-15), 55th Venice Biennale (2013), Prague Biennale 6 (2013), 1st Nanjing Biennale (2010); Prague Biennale 4 (2009); Second Asian Art Biennale, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (2009); and Jogja Biennale X (2009).  He has had numerous residences around the world including at the Singapore Tyler Print Institute; Norma Redpath Studio, Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne, Australia; The Watermill Center, Water Mill, NY; Copeland Fellowship, Amherst College, MA; and Vasl International Artists’ Residency, Pakistan.

Wiharso’s work is in collections at Colby College Museum of Art, Galeri Nasional Indonesia, Jeonbuk Museum, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Mead Art Museum, Mori Art Museum, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nusantara, National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Singapore, National Gallery of Victoria, RISD Museum, Rubell Family Collection, Singapore Art Museum, and Yunnan Art Museum. Wiharso is a 2019 Guggenheim Fellow based in Rhode Island. He is represented by Marc Straus gallery (lower east side and Tribeca, NY) and Tang Contemporary Art (Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore and Bangkok) and Can’s Gallery (Jakarta, Indonesia).

Wiharso is the seventh recipient of the grant named for sculptor Stanley Bleifeld (1924-2011). The presentation will take place on June 6, 2025 at the Honors and Awards Luncheon in New York City. The $5,000 grant was made possible through a generous donation from Bleifeld’s widow, Naomi Bleifeld, and will be awarded annually in perpetuity. Bleifeld served as NSS president from 1991-1994 and received Member Emeritus status in 2010.