An eagerly anticipated art-world announcement has just landed, as the Tate Britain announced today the shortlist for the Turner Prize 2026. The prize is awarded each year to a British artist for “an outstanding exhibition or other presentation of their work”. Four artists have been selected, and from them one will receive the Turner Prize at the end of the year
This year’s shortlisted artists are:
- Simeon Barclay – nominated for his performance, The Ruin
- Kira Freije – nominated for her first major solo exhibition, Unspeak the Chorus
- Marguerite Humeau – nominated for her solo exhibition, Torches
- Tanoa Sasraku – nominated for her solo exhibition, Morale Patch
A free exhibition of the four shortlisted artists will take place at Teesside University’s Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (MIMA) from September 26, 2026, to March 29, 2027.
The winner of the Turner Prize will be announced on December 10, 2026, at an award ceremony at MIMA.
What is the Turner Prize?
The Turner Prize was established in 1984, and is named after JMW Turner, a Romantic painter who became known as ‘the painter of light’. His works ranged across watercolours, landscapes, and prints, and you would often find him still finishing his paintings in the early opening days of his own exhibitions.
Each year, the shortlisted artists receive a special group exhibition, highlighting the quality of their work. The winner of the prize is awarded £25,000, with the other shortlisted artists awarded £10,000 each.
Previous Turner Prize winners have included:
- Nnena Kalu (2025)
- Jasleen Kaur (2024)
- Charlotte Prodger (2018)
- Helen Marten (2016)
- Grayson Perry (2003)
- Wolfgang Tillmans (2000)
- Steve McQueen (1999)
- Gillian Wearing (1997)
- Damien Hirst (1995)
- Anish Kapoor (1991)
- Richard Deacon (1987)
Who are the shortlisted artists?
Simeon Barclay
Barclay has been shortlisted for the Turner Prize on the strength of his debut hour-long spoken word performance, The Ruin. Featuring live percussion and horn, the performance “draws on Barclay’s upbringing in Huddersfield and his lived experience of the industrial landscape of northern England”.
Barclay’s performance was praised by the jury for “its exploration of Britishness, class, race and masculine identity, through an evocative, experimental use of language and a psychologically immersive soundscape.”
Kira Freije
Freije has been shortlisted for the Turner Prize on the strength of her first major solo exhibition, Unspeak the Chorus. In the exhibition, Freije used unique and found materials to create life-size figures and sculptures. These pieces transplanted human emotion and expressions onto bare metal and stone.
Freije’s exhibition was praised by the jury for its “emotional depth… [and] 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
Humeau has been shortlisted for the Turner Prize on the strength of her solo exhibition Torches. It features sculptures that draw from existing and fictional species and ‘other-worldly forms’. The pieces are displayed amidst a representation of the passage of time, through looping light and sound cycles.
Humeau’s exhibition was praised by the jury for “her cinematic exhibition-making, and her engagement with ecological and existential themes through inventive forms, speculative scenarios and dynamic shifts in scale.”
Tanoa Sasraku
Sasraku has been shortlisted for the Turner Prize on the strength of her solo exhibition Morale Patch. The exhibition explores geopolitical ideas such as the political and military history of oil, through ‘object-like sculptures’.
Sasraku’s exhibition was praised by the jury for “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 winner of the Tuner Prize will be announced on December 10, 2026. Find out more about the Turer Prize here.
