BRADFORD.- The Turner Prize 2025 has been awarded to Nnena Kalu. The winner of the £25,000 prize was announced this evening at a ceremony at Bradford Grammar School presented by magician Steven Frayne, formerly known as Dynamo, in Bradford, this year’s UK City of Culture, and broadcast live on BBC News.
The jury congratulated all four nominees for their unique and bold presentations, offering an insight into contemporary art today. Working across sculpture, painting, drawing, photography, sound and installation, this year’s nominees each reflect their diverse practices and broad experience in compelling ways. The Turner Prize 2025 at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery in Bradford has attracted 34,000 visitors to date.
The jury awarded the prize to Nnena Kalu, who creates hanging sculptures from wrappings of different materials making cocoon-like shapes, as well as large-scale drawings made with vigorous, rhythmic lines. The jury commended Kalu’s bold and compelling work, praising her lively translation of expressive gesture into captivating abstract sculpture and drawing. Noting her distinct practice and finesse of scale, composition and colour, they admired the powerful presence these works have.
One of the best-known visual arts prizes in the world, the Turner Prize aims to promote public debate around new developments in contemporary British art. Established in 1984, the prize is awarded each year to a British artist for an outstanding exhibition or other presentation of their work. The shortlisted artists for 2025 are Nnena Kalu, Rene Matić, Mohammed Sami and Zadie Xa.
The members of the Turner Prize 2025 jury are Andrew Bonacina, independent curator; Sam Lackey, Director, Liverpool Biennial; Priyesh Mistry, Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Projects, The National Gallery; and Habda Rashid, Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Fitzwilliam Museum. The jury is chaired by Alex Farquharson, Director, Tate Britain.
The exhibition of the four shortlisted artists is at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford until 22 February 2026. It is co-curated by Jill Iredale, Curator, Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Michael Richmond, Curator, Yorkshire Contemporary, and Sophie Bullen, Assistant Curator, Yorkshire Contemporary, for Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture.
