Turner Prize 2015 winner Assemble to build on success with London art gallery

Goldsmiths hails collective’s work on new gallery
Robert Dex @RobDexES10 December 2015

Londoners will be able to see the sort of work that won architecture collective Assemble the Turner Prize when one of their landmark projects — an art gallery — opens its doors next year.

The group, who picked up the £25,000 modern art prize at the Tramway in Glasgow last night for their work with derelict homes in Liverpool, are transforming a run-down Grade II listed Victorian water tank into an art gallery for Goldsmiths College.

The project, in New Cross, has been supported by a fundraising campaign backed by artists including Damien Hirst and Sir Antony Gormley.

Richard Noble, head of the department of art at Goldsmiths, said: “Goldsmiths are delighted that Assemble, who are designing our new gallery of contemporary art, have won the Turner Prize. This is a wonderful achievement, and testifies to the astonishing influence they’ve achieved.”

The south London college counts seven previous winners of the prize and 24 shortlisted artists among its alumni. Paloma Strelitz and Adam Willis, from Assemble, said: “We envisage the gallery becoming a new centre for the arts in south London, and are honoured to contribute to an institution that is further promoting its identity as an inspirational source of creativity.”

Success: Alice Edgerley of architecture collective Assemble speaks as they are announced as the 2015 Turner Prize winners Mark Runnacles/Getty Images
Mark Runnacles/Getty Images

It is not the group’s first work in the capital — other projects include a run-down public square in New Addington and the Blackhorse Workshop in Walthamstow. Their work in Liverpool, described by judge Alistair Hudson as “part of a long tradition of art working in society”, has helped overhaul 10 derelict homes in the Toxteth area.

The group, which is about 18-strong, are all in their twenties and many studied architecture together.

The Turner Prize, awarded for a body of work to a British artist under 50, counts Steve McQueen and Grayson Perry among its past winners.

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