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Marilyn Minter Reflects On Four Decades of Beauty, Grit and Banishing Shame

In conversation with Observer, she discusses the Aspen gallerist who believed in her before New York did, the collectors who buy her work despite her politics and why she never understood the art world's contempt for fashion.

This month, Anderson Ranch Arts Center will officially name Marilyn Minter its 2026 International Artist Honoree, a distinction it reserves for “globally recognized artists who demonstrate the highest level of artistic achievement and whose careers have fundamentally influenced contemporary art.” Minter checks those boxes. For more than four decades she has made lush, photorealistic paintings of glamour and grit, turning her lens on figures like Monica Lewinsky, Pamela Anderson, and Miley Cyrus, mixing grit with glamour, and doing the hard work of bringing sex into American society. The nonprofit Anderson Ranch will present the honor during its Ranch Week celebration in July, alongside a gala and a screening of Pretty Dirty (2025), the new documentary tracing Minter’s life and career. The week includes a talk between Minter and Lisa Phillips, former director of the New Museum. We caught up with Minter to hear more about her relationship to Aspen.

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Let’s start right with Aspen. One of your first dealers was there, Baldwin........

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