UK: Romani artist Delaine Le Bas nominated for the prestigious Turner Prize

The other nominees are Pio Abad, Claudette Johnson and Jasleen Kaur. All of the nominees’ works will be exhibited at Tate Britain from 25 September 2024 to 16 February 2025.

The winner of the 40th annual Turner Prize will be announced at an award ceremony at Tate Britain on 3 December 2024. “It is an honour to announce such a fantastic shortlist of artists and I cannot wait to see their exhibition at Tate Britain this autumn,” said Alex Farquharson, Director of the Tate Britain and chair of the jury for the Turner Prize.

“All four of them make work that is full of life. They show how contemporary art can fascinate, surprise and move us, and how it can speak powerfully of complex identities and memories, often through the subtlest of details. In the Turner Prize’s 40th year, this shortlist proves that British artistic talent is as rich and vibrant as ever,” Farquharson said.

Delaine Le Bas is nominated for her presentation Incipit Vita Nova. Here Begins The New Life/A New Life Is Beginning at Secession in Vienna, Austria. The Travellers’ Times reports that she transformed the gallery into an immersive performative environment hung with painted fabrics and filled with theatrical costumes and sculptures.

Drawing on the rich cultural history of the Romani people as well as on her interest in mythology, the work addresses themes of death, loss and renewal inspired by the passing of her grandmother. The Travellers’ Times reports that the jury noted how bold Le Bas has become at this moment in her artistic practice and were impressed by the exhibition’s energy, immediacy, and powerful expression of making art in a time of chaos.

In her interview with The Travellers’ Times, Le Bas reminisced about what she called her “strange and interesting journey” toward becoming an important, recognized professional artist. “It’s been a strange and interesting journey. I was really interested in fashion and clothing, that’s why I went to art school, but I ended up being an artist, although clothing and costuming is also part of what I do as well,” she said.

The eldest of five siblings, she said she was the one who liked going to school. “I actually liked going to school, which was difficult, because I am the only one out of five of us that finished school. And then I had ideas about going to Art College,” she told The Travellers’ Times.

It was at art school that she met her husband Damian Le Bas, also a Traveller. A British artist associated with the Outsider Art (or “Art Brut”) label, as well a leading exponent of the “Roma Revolution” in art, he passed away in December 2017, unfortunately.

Delaine Le Bas says her art is about identity and politics. “Feminism is in there as well,” the Turner Prize nominee told The Travellers’ Times.

“It’s also about racism and the different forms that takes, how complex it is, and about where different people stand in society,” she said. “It’s all wrapped up together, and very often a lot of what I am doing has got all of those themes in it.”

The aim of the Turner Prize, which is one of the world’s most famous visual arts awards, is to promote public debate on new developments in British art. Named after the radical painter J. M. W. Turner (1775-1851), it has been annually awarded since its establishment in 1984 to a British artist for an outstanding exhibition (or other presentation) of their work.

The winner will be awarded £25,000, while £10,000 will be awarded to the other shortlisted artists.