Turner Prize in Liverpool 2022

Published on Wed Nov 16, 2022 by David J Colbran

The Turner Prize returns to Tate Liverpool in 2022 and I visited the exhibition and took some snaps on my rubbish phone. The prize is awarded to a British artist for an outstanding exhibition or other presentation of their work in the preceding year as determined by a jury. The four shortlisted artists for the Turner Prize 2022 are: Heather Phillipson, Ingrid Pollard, Veronica Ryan and Sin Wai Kin.

So thought I would visit the exhibition and see what all the fuss is about.

So first up Heather Phillipson with ‘RUPTURE NO 6: biting the blowtorched peach’

Her work includes video, sculpture, installation, music, poetry, and digital media and perhaps makes the most impact in the galleries. The main space felt like a strange chill out room in a massive rave. And that is a good thing in my book. Heather calls it "quantum thought experiments" which I love !

Next up was Guyanese-born British artist and photographer Ingrid Pollard's exhibition Carbon Slowly Turning, It is work over a period of time that interrogates Britishness, race and sexuality. Some interesting concepts but I found it rather disjointed and wanted more contexulaisation between the various works to understand the artists practice. My favourite element was the moving sculptures that you can see in the second image here.

Nominated for her solo exhibition Along a Spectrum at Spike Island and her Windrush Artwork Commission in Hackney, Veronica Ryan’s work is a continuous process of adaptation - making and remaking. Her recent works feature sculptural objects and installations using containers, compartments, and combinations of natural and fabricated forms to reference displacement, fragmentation, and alienation. I like the concept behind Veronica's work and love her large scale installations in public spaces. But couldn't really be enthusiastic about this presentation - again I found the items and work unfocused.

Sin Wan Kin's use of performance and particularly drag began as a means of deconstructing and challenging misogyny and racism in and outside of the queer community. Their work creates fantasy narratives - a big part of this exhibition is an imaginary boy band, which was excellent. Out of the four nominees this was by far my favorite.