THE TURNER Prize has announced the seventh Glasgow School of Art Graduate as the winner in the 40th anniversary year of the prestigious visual arts award.
The £25,000 prize winner was announced at a ceremony at Tate Britain, presented by actor James Norton.
Jasleen Kaur, a silversmithing and jewellery graduate from 2008, nominated for her solo exhibition Alter Altar at Tramway, Glasgow is the winner of the 2024 award.
The other three shortlisted artists this year were Pio Abad (a 2007 Fine Art graduate), Claudette Johnson, and Delaine Le Bas, who will receive £10,000 as an award for their contribution.
Jasleen joins a long list of Glasgow School of Art alumni who have featured in the awards, including six previous winners such as Martin Boyce (2011), Duncan Campbell (2014) and Charlotte Prodger (2018).
Although no Turner Prize was made in 2020, bursaries were awarded to 10 artists “for their significant contributions to new developments in British contemporary art” with GSA graduates Jamie Crewe and Alberta Whittle among the recipients.
Glasgow-born Jasleen’s exhibition explores cultural inheritance, autobiography, assimilation, and the complexity of British identity, Kaur created sculptures from everyday objects, each animated through an immersive sound composition, giving them an uncanny illusion of life.
These 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.
Anna Gordon, head of silversmithing and jewellery at The Glasgow School of Art, said: “Jasleen’s work reacting to her Sikh upbringing in Glasgow celebrates the rich and diverse culture which exists in our city, showing not only the ways in which we choose to deny ourselves, but also how we must both preserve and challenge our own traditions.
“Like Jasleen, many GSA graduates continue work in the city after graduating, investing their distinctive talents, growing them creative ecosystem that allows artists and designers to work together, cross discipline boundaries and make exciting work.
“Jasleen’s sensitive observations of Glasgow’s Sikh community are rich in social commentary. Exploring cultural fusion through images and objects, they embody the cross-cultural identity of the city.”
The success of another graduate from The Glasgow School of Art demonstrates the continuing investment in student talent which produces exceptional graduates across the GSA’s four schools, Mackintosh School of Architecture, School of Design, School of Fine Art, School of Innovation and Technology.
This year’s success also emphasises Glasgow’s commitment and collaboration in support of its creative economy and artistic community: two of the shortlisted artists this year presented their works initially at Tramway (Jasleen Kaur and Delanie La Bas).
Martin Newth, head of the School of Fine Art at The Glasgow School of Art, said: “The objects she made as an undergraduate student in silversmithing and jewellery design spoke to her heritage in a similar way and it has been wonderful seeing how Jasleen’s work has developed since then.
“Through curiosity, scale and material she is exploring new ways to communicate her narrative and I am looking forward to seeing what comes next.”
“Together with fellow nominees Claudette Johnson and Delaine Le Bas, Jasleen and Pio create work that asks searching questions about what it means to live in the present day.”
The Turner Prize exhibition of the 2024 nominees’ work will continue at Tate Britain till February 16, 2025.
