Oldest Turner Prize winner celebrates black creativity

Judges praise ‘relevance’ of Lubaina Himid’s work

A series of “outstanding” shows and serious, thought-provoking works celebrating black creativity secured Lubaina Himid the coveted 2017 Turner Prize.

Himid, 63, became the oldest artist ever to win the best-known accolade in British art, which was opened to over fifties this year for the first time in more than 25 years.

The award was announced by the musician and artist G oldie at Hull Minster, as Hull continued to celebrate its year as UK City of Culture 2017.

Born in Zanzibar in 1954, Himid is Professor of Contemporary Art at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston.

The jury said they awarded the prize to Himid for a trio of “outstanding” shows in Oxford, Bristol and Nottingham, while judges praised the artist for “her expansive and exuberant approach to painting” and combination of “satire and a sense of theatre”.

Asked about the £25,000 prize, Himid said she already “surreptitiously” helped artists struggling for funding to put on shows and said: “So I’ll just use it for that.”

She laughed and added: “... and I might buy the odd pair of shoes.”

Still laughing she stressed: “Not £25,0000 worth of shoes.”

Himid said: “I know it sounds like some cliché, but I feel like I won it for a lot of people, so that’s why it means a lot.

“I won it for all the times we put our head above the parapet and we tried to do things and we failed. People have died in the meantime.

“For all the black women who never did win it even though they’ve been shortlisted. It feels good for that reason.”

Asked about her age, she said: “I’ve 63 years behind me. I certainly haven’t got 63 years in front of me. Maybe 15 years worth of painting if I work it at it? So I’ve got a lot to do.”

Alex Farquharson, director of Tate Britain, who chaired the jury, warned the award should not be seen as the Turner Prize becoming a “lifetime achievement award”.

Mr Farquharson said: “The jury was really impressed both the current vitality of Lubaina’s work – as shown by these three exhibitions – as well as the current relevance of three decades of her practice and her importance as a curator and an educator in that time.

“She has made – especially back in the ’80s – work by black and Asian women visible through exhibitions she has made. And they were impressed by the seriousness of themes she addressed. They feel they have a lot of resonance in the present – the legacy of colonialism and the different forms racism continues to take – but also the weird and visual exuberance with which she conveys them.”

Mr Farquharson said he believed Himid’s selection vindicated the decision to lift the restriction on older artists.

The Turner Prize was first awarded in 1984 and the 50-year-old age limit for nominees was introduced in 1991 to encourage emerging artists.

Since then it has been won by figures who are now the best known names in British art, including Damien Hirst in 1995; Anthony Gormley in 1994; Anish Kapoor in 1991; Grayson Perry in 2003 and Steve McQueen in 1999.

Before the 1991 age limit, the first two winners – Malcolm Morley in 1984 and Howard Hodgkin in 1985 – were both in their fifties.

Lubaina Himid’s work was praised for its combination of satire and sense of theatre.