by Alexander James
Just as the count down to the country’s most prestige art awards, The Turner Prize, launches this month, artist Cerise Washington revealed paintings inspired by the artist himself, alongside silk weaves as part of an ‘Art on Superyachts’ series.
The exhibition takes place on London’s Strand, just minutes from Joseph M W Turner’s birthplace in Covent Garden, this month.
As a nod to water, light and the feeling of freedom found in both the yachting and fashion arena, Washington captured a respect for Joseph William Turner, a key foundation in the romantic movement that has inspired just about every artist, from Bob Dylan, The Beatles to Tracy Emin, and is one of the most down to earth artists the world has ever seen. He appears on the back of a £20 polymer bank note and has the Turner Prize dedicated in his name, which celebrates its 40th-year. The prize shortlist will go on display on the 25th September at Tate Britain, with the winner announced in December.
Cerise Washington’s Turner-inspired collection is part of an ‘Art on Superyachts’ series is designed to educate crew members, owners and the collectors’ world on how they should care for precious objects on board. ‘On-board art collections can be worth more than the superyacht itself,’ says art educator Pandora Mather- Lees. ‘Successfully caring for prestigious objects presents crew with unexpected challenges.’
In addition, silk weaves were also on display as prints of the art by fabric house, House of Lakshmi, including our favourite collection, Monte Carlo Diva.
Meanwhile, next month’s exhibition of the Turner Prize marks its 40th anniversary, with four artists who have been shortlisted for the Turner Prize 2024: Pio Abad, Claudette Johnson, Jasleen Kaur and Delaine Le Bas.
An exhibition of their work will be held at Tate Britain from September until February of next year. This marks the prize’s 40th anniversary, as well as its return to Tate Britain for the first time in six years. The winner will be announced at an award ceremony at Tate Britain on 3
December 2024. The artists are as follows:
Pio Abad
Nominated for his solo exhibition To Those Sitting in Darkness at the Ashmolean Museum,
Oxford. Abad’s work considers cultural loss and colonial histories, often reflecting on his
upbringing in the Philippines. His exhibition includes drawing, etchings and sculptures which
depict, juxtapose and transform artefacts from Oxford museums, highlighting their overlooked
histories and drawing parallels with familiar household items. The jury commended the
precision and elegance with which Abad combines research with new artistic work to ask
questions of museums. They also remarked on both the sensitivity and clarity with which he
brings history into the present.
Claudette Johnson
Nominated for her solo exhibition Presence at The Courtauld Gallery, London, and Drawn
Out at Ortuzar Projects, New York. Johnson is noted for her figurative portraits of Black women
and men in a combination of pastels, gouache and watercolour. Countering the marginalisation
of Black people in Western art history, Johnson shifts perspectives and invests her portraits of
family and friends with a palpable sense of presence. In a year that the jury felt represented a
milestone in her practice, they were struck by Johnson’s sensitive and dramatic use of line,
colour, space and scale to express empathy and intimacy with her subjects.
Jasleen Kaur
Nominated for her solo exhibition Alter Altar at Tramway, Glasgow. Exploring cultural
inheritance, solidarity and autobiography, Kaur created sculptures from everyday objects, each
animated through an immersive sound composition, giving them an uncanny illusion of
life. Objects including family photos, an Axminster carpet, a vintage Ford Escort covered in a
giant doily, Irn-Bru and kinetic hand bells were orchestrated to convey the artist’s upbringing in
Glasgow’s Sikh community. The jury praised the artist’s evocative combination of sound and
sculpture to address specifics of family memory and community struggle.
Delaine Le Bas
Nominated for her presentation Incipit Vita Nova. Here Begins The New Life/A New Life Is
Beginning at Secession, Vienna. Le Bas 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 Roma people and her interest in mythologies, the
artist addressed themes of death, loss and renewal, inspired by the passing of her
grandmother. Noting Le Bas’s boldness at this moment in her practice, the jury were impressed
Alex Farquharson, Director of Tate Britain and chair of the Turner Prize jury said:
“All four of them make work that is full of life. They show how art can fascinate, surprise and move us, and how it can speak powerfully of complex identities and memories. British artistic talent is as rich and vibrant as ever.”
One of the world’s best-known prizes for the visual arts, the Turner Prize aims to promote
public debate around new developments in contemporary British art. Established in 1984, the
prize is named after the radical painter JMW Turner (1775-1851) and is awarded each year to a
British artist for an outstanding exhibition or other presentation of their work. The Turner Prize
winner will be awarded £25,000 with £10,000 awarded to the other shortlisted artists.
The members of the Turner Prize 2024 jury are Rosie Cooper, Director of Wysing Arts Centre;
Ekow Eshun, writer, broadcaster and curator; Sam Thorne, Director General and CEO at Japan
House London; and Lydia Yee, curator and art historian. The jury is chaired by Alex
Farquharson, Director, Tate Britain.
Cerise Washington’s art was on display at a private location at the ‘London Art Flat’,
appointments to view the art can be made at: www.artonsuperyachts.com
Visiting details to Tate Britain, which hosts The Turner Prize collection: www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-
