King & McGaw sponsors the Turner Prize 2023 at Towner Eastbourne

One of the best-known prizes in the world 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 awarded annually to an artist born, living, or working in Britain for an outstanding exhibition or public presentation of their work in the previous year.

Every other year, a venue outside Tate hosts the prize and 2023 marks the first occasion where the Turner Prize will be exhibited in Sussex at Towner, bringing transformative cultural and social experiences for visitors and residents. The event will enable local audiences to experience some of the very best in contemporary art and attract visitors from across the UK to Eastbourne.

Gyr King, Founder of King & McGaw said: ‘The Turner Prize began in 1984, when we as a company were two years old. Since inception the prize has been synonymous with excellence and progression, and is arguably the UK’s most prestigious contemporary art prize. King & McGaw exists to promote and support artists, educate, and make art accessible; both through our work with museums world-wide, and directly to the public. As a Sussex based company, we are very proud to be sponsoring the Turner Prize at Towner, the first time in it’s 38 years that it has been held in Sussex.’

Joe Hill, Director, Towner Eastbourne said: ‘We are delighted that King & McGaw are our principal sponsor for the Turner Prize 2023 at Towner Eastbourne. We thank them for their generous support for this important moment for the gallery and for our wider region. King & McGaw’s artistic knowledge, and stylish print solutions are a perfect pairing for one of the world’s leading art prizes, and I look forward to our audiences engaging with King & McGaw as part of their Turner Prize experience in Eastbourne.’

The exhibition of Turner Prize‘s four shortlisted artists will be presented at Towner from 28 September 2023 – 14 April 2024 with the announcement of the winner on 5 December 2023. The Turner Prize winner will be awarded £25,000 with £10,000 awarded to the other shortlisted artists. We hope to see you there.

The Turner Prize 2023 Shortlist

Jesse Darling

Nominated for his solo exhibitions No Medals, No Ribbons at Modern Art Oxford and Enclosures at Camden Art Centre. Darling’s work encompasses sculptures and installations which evoke the vulnerability of the human body and the precariousness of power structures. The jury was struck by Darling’s ability to manipulate materials in ways that skillfully express the messy reality of life. They felt that these exhibitions revealed the breadth and integrity of Darling’s practice, exposing the world’s underlying fragility and refusing to make oneself appear legible and functioning to others.

Ghislaine Leung

Nominated for her solo exhibition Fountains at Simian, Copenhagen. Leung’s work takes the form of ‘scores’ – sets of instructions that test the boundaries of the gallery space. Baby monitors, child safety gates, inflatable structures, toys, and water fountains are used to turn the exhibition structure on its head, asking questions about time, leisure, and labour. The jury particularly commended the warm, humorous, and transcendental qualities that lay behind the sleek aesthetic and conceptual nature of Leung’s work, as well as her commitment to challenging the way art is produced and circulated.

Rory Pilgrim

Nominated for the commission RAFTS at Serpentine and Barking Town Hall, and a live performance of the work at Cadogan Hall, London. Pilgrim’s work interweaves stories, poems, music and film, created in collaboration with local communities in the borough of Barking and Dagenham, to reflect on times of change and struggle during the pandemic. The jury praised the project as a standout example of social practice. They felt that Pilgrim’s beautiful and affecting musical arrangements gave light to their collaborators’ voices and that the confidence and vulnerability of the performance reflected the strength of the relationship between artist and community.

Barbara Walker

Nominated for her presentation entitled Burden of Proof at Sharjah Biennial 15. With a practice that interrogates past and present issues of racial identity, exclusion and power, Walker’s presentation explores the impact of the Windrush scandal, underlaying figurative drawn portraits with facsimiles of the documentation these individuals had to produce to prove their right to remain. The jury applauded Walker’s ability to use portraits of monumental scale to tell stories of a similarly monumental nature, whilst maintaining a profound tenderness and intimacy across the full scope of her work.