UCL Slade School of Fine Art alumna Veronica Ryan wins Turner Prize 2022

Veronica Ryan, who studied at the UCL Slade School of Fine Art from 1978-1980, was nominated for her solo exhibition Along a Spectrum at Spike Island, a Bristol art gallery, and her Windrush Artwork Commission in Hackney - the UK's first permanent public artwork to honour those who moved from the Caribbean to the UK after 1948.

Ryan was awarded the prize for “the personal and poetic way she extends the language of sculpture”. Best known for making sculpture evocative of objects and forms from the natural world, her recent practice combines found and usually forgotten objects and crafted materials, underpinned by interconnecting themes such as displacement, healing and loss.

Kieren Reed, Director of the UCL Slade School of Fine Art, said: “On behalf of everyone at the Slade School of Fine Art, I’d like to convey my most heartfelt congratulations to Veronica Ryan for this richly deserved recognition. We are immensely proud to see her talent and vision celebrated.”

At the age of 66, Ryan is the oldest person to win the Turner Prize. Born in Montserrat, Ryan moved to London with her parents as an infant and now lives between New York and Bristol. In 2021, she was awarded an OBE for services to art.

One of the best-known prizes for the visual arts in the world, the Turner Prize aims to promote public debate around new developments in contemporary British art. An exhibition of Ryan’s work, and of the three other shortlisted artists, is at Tate Liverpool until 19 March 2023.

Further links

• UCL alumna wins prestigious Turner Prize 2022
• The Turner Prize
• Veronica Ryan's profile
• Turner Prize 2022 exhibition
• The Slade School of Fine Art

Images

• Image 1: © Brian Roberts Images
• Image 2: © Tate (Matt Greenwood)⁣