Caribbean Born UK Artist Wins Prestigious Prize

BY NAN NEWS EDITOR

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Thurs. Dec. 8, 2022: A Caribbean immigrant artist in the UK is the winner of the prestigious Turner Prize and £25,000.

Montserrat born artist Veronica Ryan on Wednesday won the prestigious 2022 Prize for her installations focused on the Windrush Generation and COVID.

Veronica Ryan with her OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) for services to art following an investiture ceremony by the Princess Royal at Windsor Castle on February 15, 2022 in Windsor, England. (Photo by Steve Parsons – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Ryan, 66, won for contemporary art for marble and bronze sculptures placed on a street in Hackney, east London, that depict tropical fruits from the Caribbean — custard apple, breadfruit and soursop.

This was a public commission to commemorate the importance of Windrush generations of immigrants to the area. She also won for her first major solo exhibition in Bristol in west England called “Along a Spectrum,” which reflected on themes including the impact of the pandemic.

“I want to thank everybody, I have a few people who in my career have looked out for me, when I wasn’t visible,” Ryan told the audience at the prizegiving in Liverpool.

Ryan studied in the UK at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. Her work is known for its depiction of natural forms such as fruit, seeds and plants. She lives between New York and Bristol.

In February, she was given the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) for services to art following an investiture ceremony by the Princess Royal at Windsor Castle on February 15, 2022 in Windsor, England.

The Turner Prize, first awarded in 1984, has courted headlines because of installations including an unmade bed and works made from elephant dung and human hair.