Britain's Turner Prize 40th anniversary shortlist unveiled
Four artists producing works "full of life" will compete for this year's Turner Prize as the prestigious British contemporary art award celebrates its 40th anniversary, organisers Tate Britain announced on Wednesday.

The 2024 shortlist features Philippines-born Pio Abad, Manchester-born Claudette Johnson, Scottish artist Jasleen Kaur and English artist Delaine Le Bas.

The winner walks away with £25,000 (RM148,000), while the remaining shortlisted artists will be awarded £10,000 (RM59,000) each.

An exhibition of their work will be held at Tate Britain from Sept 25 to Feb 16, while the prize recipient will be announced at a ceremony at the museum on Dec 3.

London-based Abad, 40, made the list for his Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, exhibition which included drawings, etchings and sculptures.

Johnson, 65, a founding member of the Black British Arts Movement, competes with her career-spanning, large-scale drawings of Black women and men recently exhibited in London and New York.

Kaur, 37, is shortlisted for a Glasgow-exhibited artwork featuring a melange of family photos, an Axminster carpet, a classic Ford Escort car covered in a giant doily, Scotland's beloved Irn-Bru fizzy drink and kinetic handbells.

Le Bas, 58, was selected for her series of Romani-influence painted fabrics hung with theatrical costumes and sculptures.

Turner Prize jury chairman Alex Farquharson said in a statement unveiling the shortlist that "all four 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," he added.

"In the Turner Prize's 40th year, this shortlist proves that British artistic talent is as rich and vibrant as ever."

Previous victors include now-household names such as duo Gilbert & George, Anish Kapoor, Rachel Whiteread, Antony Gormley, Chris Ofili, Steve McQueen and Damien Hirst.

British artist Jesse Darling won last year's prize for his sculptures and installations that invoke societal breakdown.

The annual award seeks to encourage debate around new advances in contemporary art and is given to a visual artist based or born in Britain.

But that debate has often spilled over into controversy. Ofili, for example, won in 1998 for incorporating elephant dung into his paintings.

Hirst in 1995 exhibited pieces including a rotting cow's head, while Tracey Emin's 1999 entry My Bed - an unmade double bed with stained sheets surrounded by soiled underwear, condoms, slippers and empty drink bottles - attracted huge attention. - AFP
Arts,Turner Prize,shortlist,contemporary art,Britain
Four artists producing works 'full of life' take centre stage as Turner Prize's 40th anniversary shortlist announced