Art & Culture: Jesse Darling wins Turner Prize 2023

Jesse Darling, who lives and works in Berlin and London, standing among his Turner Prize 2023 installation,
currently on show in Eastbourne's Towner until 14 April 2024. 
Photo: Hello Content

Congratulations to Jesse Darling, winner of the £25,000 Turner Prize 2023, announced this evening at a ceremony presented by musician, creative and broadcaster Tinie Tempah at Eastbourne’s Winter Garden, adjacent to Towner Eastbourne, the gallery that hosts this year’s prize. 

(L to R) Tate Britain Director Alex Farquharson; broadcaster Tinie Tempah; Towner Eastbourne CEO Joe Hill and Turner Prize 2023 winner Jesse Darling at the Awards Ceremony.
Photo: Victor Frankowski, Hello Content

Jesse Darling works in sculpture, installation, video, drawing, sound, text and performance, using a "materialist peotics" to explore and reimagine the everyday technologies that represent how we live.

The other three nominees shortlisted for Turner 2023 are British artist Barbara Walker; Rory Pilgrim, who works between the UK and The Netherlands; and London-based Swedish artist Ghislaine Leung.

The jury commended all four nominated artists for their distinct and affecting presentations. Together their varied practices, so well represented in their Turner Prize presentations, are grounded in the realities of the world today, often giving voice to themes of uncertainty and vulnerability. Their work brings immediacy to the issues they respond to, realising these themes in powerful and unexpected ways.

Installation view of Jesse Darling's creation at Towner Eastbourne, 2023. Photo: Angus Mill 
Jesse Darling was commended for 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.
His recent practice encompasses sculpture, installation, text and drawing.

The Turner Prize is one of the best-known visual arts prizes in the world.  It  aims to promote public debate around new developments in contemporary British art. The prize is awarded to an artist born or based in the UK, for an outstanding exhibition or presentation of their work in the past twelve months.

The Turner Prize 2023 jury commended Jesse Darling for 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. Invoking societal breakdown, his presentation unsettles perceived notions of labour, class, Britishness and power.

Installation view of Jesse Darling at Towner Eastbourne, 2023.
Nominated for his solo exhibitions No Medals, No Ribbons at Modern Art Oxford and Enclosures at Camden Art Centre, his presentation for this year's Turner Prize took cues from Towner's coastal location n an installation exploring borders, bodies, nationhood and exclusion.
Photo: Angus Mill 

The members of the Turner Prize 2023 jury are Martin Clark, Director, Camden Art Centre; Cédric Fauq, Chief Curator, Capc musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux; Melanie Keen, Director of Wellcome Collection and Helen Nisbet, CEO and Artistic Director, Cromwell Place. The jury is chaired by Alex Farquharson, Director, Tate Britain.

An exhibition of the four shortlisted artists is at Towner Eastbourne until 14 April 2024. It is curated by Noelle Collins, Exhibitions and Offsite Curator at Towner Eastbourne. This year’s prize is presented as part of Towner 100, a year-long celebration of arts and culture across Eastbourne and Sussex marking the centenary of Towner Eastbourne. The seaside town is also hosting a wide-ranging cultural programme - Eastbourne ALIVE - encompassing art installations at public buildings in the town and the re-animation of underused spaces through public art, dance and music events. 

Turner Prize 2023 is sponsored by King & McGaw. The education partner is University of Sussex. Turner Prize is supported by Lorna Gradden, Chalk Cliff Trust, The John Browne Charitable Trust and The Uggla Family Foundation. It is also supported in 2023 by Eastbourne Borough Council and East Sussex County Council.  

The prize will mark its 40th anniversary next year, returning to Tate Britain in London for the first time since 2018.