Britain’s most prestigious art award, the Turner Prize, has boldly nominated four artists for the first time in its 40-year history.
Announcing on December 3, 2024, at the iconic Tate Britain in London, the 2024 nominees are Pio Abad, Claudette Johnson, Jasleen Kaur, and Delaine Le Bas – a quartet of trailblazers pushing boundaries across media.
An Esteemed Legacy
Established in 1984 to honor English Romantic painter J.M.W. Turner, the Turner Prize has elevated some of the UK’s most influential contemporary artists, from Damien Hirst’s controversial pieces to Steve McQueen’s powerful video installations and Anish Kapoor’s grand sculptural works.
This milestone year marks the ceremony’s return to Tate Britain after six years away.
The Nominees
Pio Abad’s “To Those Sitting in Darkness” at Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum wowed the jury with its deft interweaving of research and new artworks.
The Filipino artist, trained in Manila before relocating to the UK, repurposed objects and textiles from the museum’s collection, prompting audiences to reconsider overlooked histories.
His mixed-media approach infused ordinary items with profound resonance.
As a founding member of the pioneering 1980s BLK Art Group, Claudette Johnson has dedicated her career to centering Black representation in Western art through exquisite portraiture.
Her dual solo shows “Presence” at London’s Courtauld Gallery and “Drawn Out” at New York’s Ortuzar Projects were a “milestone,” using pastels, gouache, and watercolors to render friends and family with “empathy and intimacy” at grand scales.
Glasgow’s own Jasleen Kaur made waves with “Alter Altar” at Tramway, an inventive environment synthesizing sculpture, sound, and her cultural heritage.
Vintage cars draped in doilies, antique bells, and family photos coalesced into an evocative exploration of “memory and community struggle.”
The vibrant 1986-born artist continues gaining recognition through exhibitions nationwide.
Delaine Le Bas, a British artist of Romany descent, transformed Vienna’s Secession gallery into an immersive Gesamtkunstwerk with “Incipit Vita Nova.
Here Begins The New Life/A New Life Is Beginning.” Her multi-disciplinary installation bridged visual art, performance, and literature to confront stereotypes about the Roma people while honoring her late grandmother. Le Bas’ bold practice challenges notions of nationhood and belonging.
The Winner’s Circle
The 2024 Turner Prize winner, to be announced December 3 at Tate Britain, will receive £25,000 (€29,000), with £10,000 (€11,600) awarded to each nominee.
Audiences can experience the four artists’ groundbreaking works in an exhibition at Tate Britain from September 25, 2024, through February 16, 2025.
With profound insights into identity, heritage, and the artistic canon itself, this year’s Turner Prize nominees are pivotal voices reshaping Britain’s cultural fabric.
Their boundary-defying practices augur an avant-garde future for the nation’s art.
