Jesse Darling Wins 2023 Turner Prize

Darling was praised for unsettling conceptions of labour, class, Britishness, and power through his assemblages of found materials.

Jesse Darling was awarded the Turner Prize, Britain's top contemporary art award, at a ceremony in Eastbourne last night.

'The jury commended his use of materials and commonplace objects like concrete, welded barriers, hazard tape, office files, and net curtains, to convey a familiar yet delirious world,' said the Tate Museum, which administers the prize, in a statement.

'Invoking societal breakdown, his presentation unsettles perceived notions of labour, class, Britishness and power,' they said.

Speaking to Ocula about his use of everyday materials last year, Darling said, 'plastic is a zombie medium—lurid and undead, made from fossil fuels, which are in turn made from the exhumed bodies of our ancestors. Steel is a technology of coloniality and capitalism, of war and industry. These materials have produced my body, in a manner of speaking, and everything I know.'

Darling was nominated for the £25,000 (U.S. $31,000) prize alongside Ghislaine Leung, Rory Pilgrim, and Barbara Walker. An exhibition of the four shortlisted artists continues at Towner Eastbourne until 14 April 2024.

After giving his acceptance speech in front of a live audience and TV cameras, Darling held up a Palestinian flag. He told The Art Newspaper, 'I wanted to say something on the BBC. Because otherwise it won't be said.'

The Turner Prize was won last year by Veronica Ryan, and in 2021 by Northern Ireland's Array Collective. —[O]