Four artists—including three women and one non-binary artist of diverse age ranges, racial and cultural backgrounds—have been shortlisted for this year’s Turner Prize, Tate announced on Tuesday morning. It is the first time the prestigious British art prize has featured only women and non-binary artists among the nominees, since the first all-female shortlist in 1997.

Heather Phillipson, Ingrid Pollard, Veronica Ryan, and Sin Wai Kin, are the four U.K.-based artists shortlisted for the coveted prize, which will be awarded in December. An exhibition of their work will take place at Tate Liverpool from October 20 this year to March 19, 2023. This is the first time the Turner Prize has been held at Tate Liverpool since 2007. The Turner Prize winner will receive £25,000 ($32,500), with £10,000 ($13,010) going to each of the other shortlisted artists.

Alex Farquharson, director of Tate Britain and co-chair of the Turner Prize jury, described the shortlist as “excitingly rich and varied.” This year’s award marks a key milestone for the British art scene since it began to reopen in May 2021 following a prolonged period of pandemic lockdown.

The upcoming exhibition at Tate Liverpool is expected to be “mesmerizing and dynamic,” Helen Legg, director of Tate Liverpool and co-chair of the Turner Prize jury said. “The result is a diverse group of artists, each with a singular vision, who impressed the judges with the intensity of their presentations, while also dealing with important issues facing our society today,” she said.

THE END by Heather Phillipson on Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth. Credit: David Parry/PA Wire

Born in London in 1978 and raised in Wales, the 43-year-old Phillipson works with a range of media ranging from video, sculpture, installation, music composition, poetry, and digital media. She is nominated for her solo exhibition “RUPTURE NO 1: blowtorching the bitten peach” at Tate Britain, and THE END, her Fourth Plinth commission and the now-iconic piece stationed in London’s Trafalgar Square. The judges said they were impressed by “the audacious and sophisticated way Phillipson splices absurdity, tragedy, and imagination to probe urgent and complex ideas.”

Ingrid Pollard, Self Evident (detail) 1992 © and courtesy of the artist

The 69-year-old, Northumberland-based Pollard is a photographer, media artist and researcher, with a social practice anchored in representation and history, focusing on race, and the concept of the other. She is nominated for her solo show “Carbon Slowly Turning” at MK Gallery, Milton Keynes. The jury praised the artist’s rich body of work for uncovering hidden stories and histories. She was born in Georgetown, Guyana, in 1953.

Veronica Ryan OBE, Custard Apple (Annonaceae), Breadfruit (Moraceae), and Soursop (Annonaceae), 2021. Commissioned by Hackney Council; curated and produced by Create London. Photo: Andy Keate. Courtesy the artist, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, and Alison Jacques, London.

Veronica Ryan, 66, was nominated for her solo presentation “Along a Spectrum” at Spike Island, Bristol, and her Hackney Windrush Art Commission in London. Born in Plymouth, Montserrat, in 1956, Ryan works with a wide range of materials from bronze to plaster and marble, creating sculptural objects and installations with containers and compartments that deals with issues revolving around history, belonging, and human psychology. Judges described her new body of work created during her residency at Spike Island “highly accomplished” as it explores a diverse range of subjects including the psychological impact of the pandemic. Ryan received an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honors List in 2021.

Sin Wai Kin, A Dream of Wholeness in Parts (still) 2021 © the artist. Courtesy the artist, Chi-Wen Gallery, Taipei and Soft Opening, London. Produced by Chi-Wen Productions, Taipei. Supported by Hayward Gallery Touring for British Art Show 9

The 31-year-old Sin is the youngest among the four nominees. Born in Toronto, Canada, in 1991, they were nominated for their appearance in the British Art Show 9 and the solo presentation by Blindspot Gallery at Frieze London. Sin’s work often appears in the form of performance, moving image, writing, and print, through which they examine the themes of desire, identification, and consciousness in fictional narratives and storytelling. Judges were particularly impressed by “the boundary-pushing nature of Sin’s work,” citing their 2021 film Dream of Wholeness in Parts. Inspired by the ancient Taoist philosopher Chuang Tzu’s famous text Dream of the Butterfly, the film explores contemporary drag, music and poetry, while drawing references from Chinese philosophy and the aesthetics of Chinese opera.

The winner will be decided by a jury panel comprised of Irene Aristizábal, Head of Curatorial and Public Practice at BALTIC, Christine Eyene, a research fellow at the School of Arts and Media, UCLan, Robert Leckie, director of Spike Island, and Anthony Spira, director of MK Gallery.

The Turner Prize 2022 is backed by BNP Paribas, with additional support from The John Browne Charitable Trust and The Uggla Family Foundation.