On Wednesday evening, CULTURED and MZ Wallace marked the 10-year anniversary of the Young Artists List with an evening that brought rising artistic talent, devoted patrons, and creative power brokers across fashion, food, design, and culture under one roof—culminating in the reveal of the 2025 Young Artist Prize winner, Ali Eyal, selected by a jury of leading curators (the Met’s Jane Panetta, the Hammer’s Erin Christovale, and MoMA’s T. Lax) from among the 27 artists featured in this year’s list.
The Locale: In the depths of SoHo’s Mercer Hotel, nightlife staple (SUB)MERCER played host to the chatter of artists, dealers, and supporters; speeches from MZ Wallace co-founder Monica Zwirner and Editor-in-Chief Sarah Harrelson; and celebratory toasts all around.
Memorable Moment: When Harrelson announced Eyal as the winner of the 2025 CULTURED x MZ Wallace Young Artist Prize, an unrestricted $30,000 grant, commemorating the Iraqi-born, Los Angeles-based artist’s multidisciplinary practice, which meditates on the violence he and his family endured at the hands of the U.S. military during his upbringing in Baghdad in the ’90s and 2000s. “Ali Eyal shows us that art can mourn, repair, resist, and imagine,” she told the crowd. “For his vision, his courage, and his ability to transform his memory into shared experience, we are honored to recognize him tonight.”
The Crowd: Zwirner, her fellow MZ Wallace co-founder Lucy Wallace Eustice, and Harrelson gathered 2025 Young Artists Ali Eyal, Lorenzo Amos, Jesús Hilario-Reyes, Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Witt Fetter, Coco Klockner, Kye Christensen-Knowles, Cyle Warner, Brian Oakes, Coumba Samba, Asher Liftin, and Hannah Taurins; Young Artists list alums including Miles Greenberg, Martine Gutierrez, Drake Carr, Andrew Ross, Ajay Kurian, Arcmanoro Niles, Sarah Faux, Margaux Ogden, Ana Cláudia Almeida, Paige K. Bradley, Bony Ramirez, Sasha Gordon, and Cameron A. Granger; art advisors Rob Teeters and Ralph DeLuca; curators Rujeko Hockley and Gabrielle Richardson; gallerists Jordan Barse, Silke Lindner, Alexander Shulan, and Margot Samel; CULTURED‘s Adam Eli, Mina Stone, Sophia Cohen, Jacoba Urist, and Alexandra Cunningham Cameron; patrons Carla Shen and Paul Leong; chef Woldy Reyes; and stylist Dara Allen.
Food & Drink: A Black Diamond Margarita made from Maestro Dobel Tequila and a Classic Manhattan blended with Great Jones whiskey quenched the crowd’s thirst.
Parting Gift: Guests left with a special MZ Wallace tote bag packed with goodies, including CULTURED‘s Miami Art Week Edition and Winter issue, mirroring the evening’s palette of artistic celebration.
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