The Turner Prize is awarded to Helen Marten for “reflecting the challenges of being in the world today”

Date
6 December 2016
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Juergen Teller: portrait of Turner Prize 2016 winner Helen Marten

The Turner Prize has been awarded to 31-year-old, London-based artist Helen Marten. The announcement was made last night at the Tate Britain and broadcast live on the BBC, presented by Nigerian poet and novelist Ben Okri. The jury said Helen’s work is “outstanding for its extraordinary range of materials and form,” and that they “admire the work’s poetic and enigmatic qualities which reflect the complexities and challenges of being in the world today”.

Helen was selected for the prestigious award and £25,000 prize for projects including Lunar Nibs at Venice Biennale and solo show Eucalyptus Let Us In in New York’s Green Naftali gallery. Her work combines screen printing, writing and sculpture, often using found objects.

The prize is given annually to an artist under 50 for an outstanding exhibition of presentation of work in the past year, and aims to promote public debate around new developments in contemporary British art.

The other three shortlisted artists were Anthea Hamilton, Michael Dean and Josephine Pryde.

Helen Marten was born in Macclesfield in 1985, and studied at Central Saint Martins and Ruskin School of Fine Art.

Read our review of The Turner Prize exhibition here. The exhibition is on at Tate Britain until 2 January.

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Helen Marten, 2016. Photo: Joe Humphrys

Above

Helen Marten, 2016. Photo: Joe Humphrys

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Helen Marten, 2016. Photo: Jamie Stoker

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Jenny Brewer

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