Today, Tate Britain announces the four artists who have been shortlisted for the Turner Prize 2026. It’s one of the most anticipated moments of the creative calendar, spotlighting artists for outstanding exhibitions or other presentations of their work. One of the world’s best-known awards for the visual arts, the Prize aims to promote public debate around new developments in contemporary British art. Since it was established in 1984, it has brought early recognition to artists such as Anish Kapoor, Antony Gormley, Damien Hirst, Grayson Perry, Lubaina Himid, Rachel Whiteread and Steve McQueen. This year’s shortlist is just as compelling, featuring Simeon Barclay, Kira Freije, Marguerite Humeau, and Tanoa Sasraku.
The shortlist is curated by a jury made up of Sarah Allen, Head of Programme, South London Gallery; Joe Hill, Director & Chief Executive, Yorkshire Sculpture Park; Sook-Kyung Lee, Director, The Whitworth and Professor of Curatorial Practices at The University of Manchester; and Alona Pardo, Director, Arts Council Collection, UK. Alex Farquharson, Director of Tate Britain and Chair of the Jury, said: ” The Turner Prize continues to offer the public a compelling reflection of the breadth and vitality of contemporary British art. This year’s selection presents a rich and diverse range of work, spanning installation and performance, and with a strong emphasis on sculptural practice. Each artist invites us into carefully constructed scenarios, both real and imagined, that offer distinct perspectives through which to explore the world around us.”
Marguerite Humeau
Nominated for her solo exhibition Torches presented at ARKEN Museum of Contemporary Art, Copenhagen and Helsinki Art Museum. Humeau’s work examines the formation of life, ancient human history and imagined future worlds. Her sculptures combine references to specific natural species and other-worldly forms, bathed in a looped cycle of light and sound. The installation expresses a kinship with the natural world, adopting an eco-centric rather than human-centered perspective. The jury was impressed by her cinematic exhibitions, and her engagement with ecological and existential themes.
Kira Freije
Nominated for her first major solo exhibition, Unspeak the Chorus at the Hepworth Wakefield, West Yorkshire. Freije uses metal, fabric and found materials to create sculptures that explore universal human emotions. Her theatrical tableau features life-size figures constructed from bare metal armatures and expressive, stonecast faces in poses that are at once unsettling and beautiful. The jury praised the emotional depth of Freije’s work, highlighting its unique sculptural vocabulary of materials and forms, as well as the haunting, expressive way she transformed the space through her arrangement of figures.
Simeon Barclay
Nominated for his performance The Ruin, commissioned by the Roberts Institute of Art and also presented at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London, The Hepworth Wakefield, West Yorkshire and New Art Exchange, Nottingham. The hour-long spoken word performance, featuring live percussion by James Larter and horn by Isaac Shieh, draws on Barclay’s upbringing in Huddersfield. The jury praised Barclay’s debut performance for its exploration of Britishness, class, race and masculine identity, through an evocative, experimental use of language and a psychologically immersive soundscape.
Tanoa Sasraku
Nominated for her solo exhibition Morale Patch at The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London. The installation explores geopolitical ideas through object-like sculptures, works on paper and film. The exhibition focuses on recent political and military histories of oil through a highly conceptual installation that borrows from the visual language of the corporate world. The jury praised the 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.
An exhibition of the shortlisted artists will be at MIMA, Middlesborough Institution of Modern Art from 26 September to 29 March 2027. The winner will be announced on 10 December 2026.
Words: Emma Jacob
Image Credits:
1&5. Tanoa Sasraku, Morale Patch installation view, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, 2025-26. Image © Jack Elliot Edwards, courtesy the artist and Vardaxoglou Gallery, London.
2. Marguerite Humeau, Torches at ARKEN Museum, 2025 © Marguerite Humeau. Photography by Mathilde Agius. Courtesy of the artist.
3. Installation view of Kira Freije: Unspeak the Chorus, The Hepworth Wakefield, November 2025. Photo © Lewis Ronald.
4. Roberts Institute of Arts presents Simeon Barclay, The Ruin, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, January 2025. Photo © Anne Tetzlaff. Courtesy of the Artist & Workplace.
