British artist Jesse Darling won the prestigious Turner Prize on Tuesday for his sculptures and installations that invoke societal breakdown.
The 41-year-old – who now lives in Berlin – pipped Ghislaine Leung, Rory Pilgrim and Barbara Walker to the £25,000 (US$30,000) award.
Darling was announced the winner of the 2023 prize by British rapper Tinie Tempah during a ceremony in Eastbourne, on England’s southeast coast.
Previous victors include now-household names such as duo Gilbert & George, Anish Kapoor, Rachel Whiteread, Antony Gormley, Chris Ofili, Steve McQueen and Damien Hirst.
The annual prize, first awarded in 1984, seeks to encourage debate around new advances in contemporary art and is given to a visual artist based or born in Britain.
But that debate has often spilled over into controversy.
Ofili, for example, won in 1998 for incorporating elephant dung into his paintings.
Hirst in 1995 exhibited pieces including a rotting cow’s head, while Tracey Emin’s 1999 entry My Bed – an unmade double bed with stained sheets surrounded by soiled underwear, condoms, slippers and empty drink bottles – attracted huge attention.
In first, Turner Prize for art is won by all four finalists
In first, Turner Prize for art is won by all four finalists
Darling is known for working with unconventional materials including hazard tape, office files and net curtains.
He was nominated for his exhibitions “No Medals No Ribbons” and “Enclosures”.
The Turner Prize board praised his work as conveying a “familiar yet delirious world” that “unsettles perceived notions of labour, class, Britishness and power”.
Last year’s winner was Veronica Ryan, whose sculptures of tropical fruit on the streets of East London focused on the contribution of migrants from the Caribbean.