Four solo artists shortlisted for Britain’s Turner Prize

LONDON

Four artists commended for their solo exhibitions are competing for the UK’s Turner Prize for contemporary art this year, Tate Britain, which organizes the award, announced on April 12.

The 2022 shortlist contrasts with last year’s line-up, which for the first time saw five artist collectives vie for the prestigious, but often controversial British visual arts award.

This year’s nominees include Heather Phillipson, best known in Britain for her artwork displayed in London’s Trafalgar Square of a giant swirl of replica whipped cream, topped with a sculpted cherry, fly and drone.

Titled “The End,” it sat for two years from January 2020 on the empty fourth plinth on the world-famous landmark in the center of the British capital.

Phillipson, who works in video, sculpture and drawing, was nominated for that work and a solo exhibition -- “Rupture No 1: blowtorching the bitten peach” -- at Tate Britain.

The prize’s jury “applauded the audacious and sophisticated way Phillipson splices absurdity, tragedy and imagination to probe urgent and complex ideas,” the museum said in a statement.

The other contenders include Toronto-born, London-based artist Sin Wai Kin, formerly known as Victoria Sin, who identifies as non-binary, in part for a solo show at Hong Kong’s Blindspot Gallery.

“Drawing on their own experience existing between binary categories, their work realizes fictional narratives to describe lived realities of desire, identification, and consciousness,” Tate Britain said.

Ingrid Pollard, who works primarily in photography, but also sculpture, film and sound, was nominated for her exhibition “Carbon Slowly Turning” in Milton Keynes, central England.

“Pollard’s work questions our relationship with the natural world and interrogates ideas such as Britishness, race and sexuality,” Tate Britain said.

The jury also selected Veronica Ryan, a Montserrat-born British sculptor, for two U.K. showcases of her “sculptural objects and installations using containers, compartments, and combinations of natural and fabricated forms.”

The Turner winner -- to be announced at an award ceremony in Liverpool, northwest England, in December -- will scoop 25,000 punds ($33,000, 30,000 euros), and the other nominees will each receive £10,000.

An exhibition of their works will be held at Tate Liverpool from Oct. 20, 2022 to March 19, 2023.