Tate Britain has announced the four artists who have been shortlisted for this year’s Turner Prize, the UK’s most publicised art award.
The list of nominees includes artists whose work explores issues such as the Windrush scandal and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The annual Turner Prize will be awarded at a ceremony on December 5, and works by all of the nominees will be exhibited at Towner Gallery in Eastbourne from September 28 to January 14, 2024.
Anish Kapoor, Rachel Whiteread, Damien Hirst, and Steve McQueen have previously won the prize, which is always given to a British artist and was first awarded in 1984.
The prize focuses on recent works rather than a lifetime’s achievement, and the previous age limit of 50 was taken away in 2017.
The Turner Prize 2023 is part of Towner 100 — the gallery’s year-long centenary celebration of arts and culture across Eastbourne. The award ceremony will be held in Eastbourne’s Winter Gardens.
📢 JUST IN: 2023's #TurnerPrize nominees!
— Tate (@Tate) April 27, 2023
🎉 Jesse Darling
🎉 Ghislaine Leung
🎉 Rory Pilgrim
🎉 Barbara Walker
An exhibition of the four artists' work will open on 28 September 2023 at the iconic @TownerGallery in Eastbourne. Read more: https://t.co/XF0GJxBh6O #TurnerPrize2023 pic.twitter.com/dC8BF1fPKq
Who is on the shortlist for the 2023 Turner Prize?
Tate Britain announced today (Thursday, April 27) that Jesse Darling, Ghislaine Leung, Rory Pilgrim, and Barbara Walker are the four artists in contention.
Tate director Alex Farquharson said: “The Turner Prize always offers the public a snapshot of British artistic talent today.
“These artists each explore the contrasts and contradictions of life, combining conceptual and political concerns with warmth, playfulness, sincerity, and tenderness, and often celebrating individual identity and community strength.”
Each of the artists in contention will receive £5,000, with a further £25,000 awarded to the winner.
It has not yet been confirmed who will present the 2023 Turner Prize, although it is usually given by a celebrity — a role filled in previous years by big names such as Richard Attenborough, Paul Smith, Nick Cave, Yoko Ono, Mario Testino, and Madonna.
Jesse Darling
Darling’s work encompasses sculptures and installations which evoke the vulnerability of the human body and the precariousness of power structures, the Tate said.
“The jury was struck by Darling’s ability to manipulate materials in ways that skillfully express the messy reality of life,” a statement added. “They felt that these exhibitions revealed the breadth and integrity of Darling’s practice, exposing the world’s underlying fragility and refusing to make oneself appear legible and functioning to others.”
Which works is Jesse Darling known for?
- Darling has been nominated for his solo exhibitions No Medals No Ribbons at Modern Art Oxford and Enclosures at Camden Art Centre.
- He previously exhibited The Ballad of Saint Jerome at Tate Britain in late 2018 and early 2019.
We're so excited that Jesse Darling has been nominated for the #TurnerPrize 2023 for the 2022 exhibition #NoMedalsNoRibbons at Modern Art Oxford and Enclosures at @CamdenArtCentre 🎊 @TownerGallery will host an exhibition by the four nominees from 28 September-14 April 2024 🌟 pic.twitter.com/zg1Xvw4dnO
— Modern Art Oxford (@mao_gallery) April 27, 2023
Ghislaine Leung
The Swedish-born artist lives and works in London and creates work in the form of ‘scores’ which are “sets of instructions which test the boundaries of the gallery space”.
“The jury particularly commended the warm, humorous, and transcendental qualities that lay behind the sleek aesthetic and conceptual nature of Leung’s work,” the Tate said.
Which works is Ghislaine Leung best known for?
- Leung has been nominated for her solo exhibition Fountains at Simian in Copenhagen.
- Her previous large exhibition was Constitution in London’s Chisenhale Gallery.
Rory Pilgrim
Visual artist Pilgrim “interweaves stories, poems, music, and film, created in collaboration with local communities,” in Dagenham and Barking, where he is based.
“The jury praised the project as a standout example of social practice,” the Tate said. “They felt that Pilgrim’s beautiful and affecting musical arrangements gave light to their collaborators’ voices, and that the confidence and vulnerability of the performance reflected the strength of the relationship between artist and community.”
Which works is Rory Pilgrim best known for?
- Pilgrim was nominated for RAFTS at Serpentine and Barking Town Hall, and a live performance of the work at Cadogan Hall, London.
- He has released previous work on Spotify and through the written word.
Barbara Walker
Wonderful news 🙌
— Parker Harris (@ParkerHarrisCo) April 27, 2023
The nominees for the Turner Prize have just been announced.
Barbara Walker MBE RA, artist & selector for the @TBWDrawingPrize 2023, is nominated for a series of works exploring the fallout of the Windrush scandal.@TheArtNewspaper ➡️ https://t.co/hanfV7qC1f pic.twitter.com/S3spFTmkSZ
Birmingham-based Walker works have explored race, exclusion, and power with the latest, Burden of Proof, being about the Windrush scandal.
The Tate said: “The jury applauded Walker’s ability to use portraits of monumental scale to tell stories of a similarly monumental nature, whilst maintaining a profound tenderness and intimacy across the full scope of her work.”
Which works is Barbara Walker known for?
- Walker was nominated for her presentation entitled Burden of Proof at Sharjah Biennial 15.
- Appropriately, she most recently exhibited at the Turner Contemporary in Margate, with her show Place, Space, and Who.
