Turner Prize: Jesse Darling wins for 'delirious' art using tattered flags and barbed wire
The judges praised his use of common objects like barriers, hazard tape, office files and net curtains "to convey a familiar yet delirious world".
"Invoking societal breakdown, his presentation unsettles perceived notions of labour, class, Britishness and power," they said.
The chair of the judges, Tate Britain director Alex Farquharson, added that his art was "bold", "engaging" and partly a reflection on "the state of the nation".
Jesse Darling was many of the critics' favourite for the prize. His room of jaunty crash barriers and union jacks is inventive and original.
Darling - who was born in Oxford but lives and works in Berlin - has said he is reflecting the hostile environment in the UK towards immigration in this work.
The exhibition entrances are turned into checkpoints complete with barbed wire. But the space itself feels alive and humorous.
That's down to the crowd control barriers Darling has sculpted at prancing angles. This is anthropomorphising writ large - the very things that are used to corral people by the police are given a life of their own, turned into creatures that can't be controlled.
We're also surrounded by frilly curtains and a maypole adorned with police tape and anti-pigeon spikes.
Darling has said British towns these days are showing the effects of austerity, Brexit and Covid. He's riffing on that in a show that tackles nationhood and British identity.
At the end of his speech, Darling pulled a Palestinian flag out of his coat pocket and waved it.
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-67627980What else?? Total decadence and delirious stupidity on both sides of the Atlantic: A popette is The magazine's man of the year and another talentless swivel eyed loonette who pretends to be a bloke gets the Turner in England.