Meet the 2026 Turner Prize shortlisted artists

One of the art world’s best-known prizes, the Turner Prize has spotlighted the most interesting, controversial or talented artists since its inception in 1984. This year’s four shortlisted artists – Simeon Barclay, Kira Freije, Marguerite Humeau and Tanoa Sasraku – will be exhibiting their work at Teesside University’s Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (MIMA), in September 2026, before the announcement of the winner on 10 December.

This year’s jury is chaired by Alex Farquharson, director of Tate Britain, and composed of Sarah Allen, head of programme, South London Gallery; Joe Hill, director and chief executive, Yorkshire Sculpture Park; Sook-Kyung Lee, director, The Whitworth and professor of curatorial practices at The University of Manchester; and Alona Pardo, director, Arts Council Collection, UK. Says Farquharson: ‘This year’s selection presents a rich and diverse range of work, spanning installation and performance, and with a strong emphasis on sculptural practice. Each artist invites us into carefully constructed scenarios, both real and imagined, that offer distinct perspectives through which to explore the world around us, and to reflect on our place within it.’

But what do we know about the artists? Read on to discover more.

Meet the shortlisted Turner Prize 2026 artists

Kira Freije

In her first major solo exhibition, ‘Unspeak the Chorus’ at The Hepworth Wakefield, Freije cast her hands and feet in aluminum to create metal sculptures formed from stainless steel strips that had been welded together. London-born Freije, who studied at the Royal Academy, uses these vast sculptures to express a universality of human emotion, a quality praised by the jury, who noted the poignant, haunting impression they left.

Simeon Barclay

Huddersfield-born Simeon Barclay is a multimedia artist nominated here for his emotive hour-long performance, The Ruin. The spoken-word piece, commissioned by the Roberts Institute of Art and also performed at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, The Hepworth Wakefield, West Yorkshire, and New Art Exchange, Nottingham, is accompanied by percussion by James Larter and horn by Isaac Shieh. In the piece, Barclay reflects on his experience of growing up in industrialised northern England, with the jury singling out his evocative reflections on class, race and masculine identity.

Marguerite Humeau

French visual artist Marguerite Humeau considered ancient human history and future worlds in her exhibition, ‘Torches’, at Arken Museum of Contemporary Art in Copenhagen and Helsinki Art Museum in Finland. The immersive show, setting sculptures amid a backdrop of looping sound and light, put a cinematic spin on current ecological concerns, leaving an impression praised by the jury.

Tanoa Sasraku

Plymouth-born Tanoa Sasraku’s exhibition, ‘Morale Patch’, at the Institute of Contemporary Art, London, encompassed her multi-media approach, with sculptures, works on paper and film considering the political history of oil. The jury emphasised the sophistication of Sasraku’s installation, which unites corporate references with a clinical irony.

The Turner Prize 2026, exhibition will be on view from 26 September 2026 – 29 March 2027, at Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, mima.art