COURTESY HEPWORTH WAKEFIELD
The Hepworth Wakefield museum in England announced today that Helen Marten has won its 2016 Hepworth Prize for Sculpture. Given to a British sculptor, the biennial award, which was bestowed for the first time this year, comes with £30,000, or about $37,000.
Marten, who is nominated for this year’s Turner Prize, has received acclaim lately for her works that combine unlike objects, creating tough-to-describe narratives. There’s often a post-human element to her work, which has appeared recently at Greene Naftali gallery in New York, and which often hints at owners who left behind toys and furniture.
Given that Marten is just 31, her win is something of a feat. That’s even more the case because the London-based artist’s fellow nominees were Phyllida Barlow, Steven Claydon, and David Medalla. Barlow is currently set to represent England at the 2017 Venice Biennale. David Chipperfield, Alastair Sooke, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Sheikha Hoor al-Qasimi, and Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo judged the prize.