Four artists have been shortlisted for this year’s Turner Prize, which is being held in Middlesbrough for the first time.
Tate Britain today announced that Simeon Barclay, Kira Freije, Marguerite Humeau, and Tanoa Sasraku have been chosen to compete for the prestigious prize.
An exhibition of their work will be held at MIMA, the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, from September 26 this year through to March 29, 2027.
The winner will be announced on December 10 at an award ceremony at MIMA.
Part of Teesside University, MIMA is known globally for artistic excellence and community regeneration.
The prize has helped launch the careers and reputations of numerous internationally renowned artists including Damien Hirst, Steve McQueen, Grayson Perry, Antony Gormley, Veronica Ryan, Lubaina Himid and most recently, Jasleen Kaur.
One of the world’s best-known prizes for the visual arts, the Turner Prize aims to promote public debate around new developments in contemporary British art.
Established in 1984, the prize is named after the radical painter JMW Turner (1775-1851) and is awarded each year to a British artist for an outstanding exhibition or other presentation of their work.
The winner will be awarded £25,000 with £10,000 awarded to the other shortlisted artists.
Alex Farquharson, Director of Tate Britain and Chair of the Turner Prize Jury, said:
“It is a privilege to announce this outstanding shortlist – congratulations to all four nominated artists.
“The Turner Prize continues to offer the public a compelling reflection of the breadth and vitality of contemporary British art.”
Dr Laura Sillars, Director at MIMA and Dean of Culture and Creativity at Teesside University, said:
“This shortlist promises an extraordinary Turner Prize exhibition at Teesside University’s cultural heart, MIMA.
“We all look forward to working with the artists over the coming months in Middlesbrough, a place with a strong and growing cultural confidence.
“As the first Turner Prize within a university setting, this moment creates a special context, where contemporary art can inspire discussion, dialogue and new ways of thinking.”
Simeon Barclay
Nominated for his performance The Ruin, an hour-long spoken word performance which features live percussion by James Larter and horn by Isaac Shieh.
It draws on Barclay’s upbringing in Huddersfield and his lived experience of the industrial landscape of northern England.
The jury praised Barclay’s debut performance for its exploration of Britishness, class, race and masculine identity, through an evocative, experimental use of language and a psychologically immersive soundscape.
Kira Freije
Nominated for her first major solo exhibition, Unspeak the Chorus which uses metal, fabric and found materials to create sculptures that explore universal human emotions.
Her theatrical tableau features life-size figures constructed from bare metal armatures and expressive, stonecast faces in poses that are at once unsettling and beautiful.
The jury praised the emotional depth of Freije’s work, highlighting its unique sculptural vocabulary of materials and forms, as well as the haunting, expressive way she transformed the space through her arrangement of figures.
Marguerite Humeau
Nominated for her solo exhibition Torches, which examines the formation of life, ancient human history and imagined future worlds.
Her sculptures combine references to specific natural species and other-worldly forms, bathed in a looped cycle of light and sound. The installation expresses a deep kinship with the natural world, adopting an eco-centric rather than human-centred perspective.
The jury was impressed by her cinematic exhibition-making, and her engagement with ecological and existential themes through inventive forms, speculative scenarios and dynamic shifts in scale.
Tanoa Sasraku
Nominated for her solo exhibition Morale Patch which explores geopolitical ideas through object-like sculptures, works on paper and film.
The exhibition focuses on recent political and military histories of oil through a highly conceptual installation that borrows from the visual language of the corporate world.
The jury praised the precision and sophistication of the installation, noting how it addresses complex historical issues with strong contemporary resonances, and its use of a clinical, minimalist display that conveys both irony and seriousness.
The Turner Prize coming to Middlesbrough is part of an exciting time for culture in the town.
It has been announced that Middlesbrough Town Hall will host the BBC Proms for the first time this summer, while the town will celebrate the 150th anniversary of Middlesbrough Football Club in the 2026-27 season.
Middlesbrough has been longlisted in a bid to become the UK Capital of Culture 2029 as it plans a programme of celebration of the town’s bi-centenary in 2030.
Find out more about culture in Middlesbrough by clicking here.
