Anthea Hamilton to Transform Tate Britain's Duveen Galleries in 2018

Anthea Hamilton, a London-born artist (1978) and 2016 Turner Prize finalist, has been selected for the 2018 Tate Britain Commission, making her the first Afro-British artist to create a solo installation for the neoclassical Duveen Galleries. Known for surreal videos, installations, and performances, Hamilton gained attention for her Turner Prize entry Project for a Door (After Gaetano Pesce), a giant buttocks-shaped door inspired by the Italian designer. The commission, sponsored by Sotheby's, will occupy the three halls for six months starting March 21, 2018, through October 7. Hamilton's immersive project will combine sculpture and performance, drawing on her ironic appropriation of popular imagery, sexual allusions, and references to famous artworks. Influenced by French playwright Antonin Artaud, she aims to provoke estrangement through humor, unexpected materials, and scale. Previous Duveen Galleries commissioners include Mona Hatoum (2000), Mark Wallinger (2007), Martin Creed (2008), Fiona Banner (2010), Phyllida Barlow (2014), and Cerith Wyn Evans (2017). The galleries, named after Lord Duveen who funded them in the 1930s, opened in 1937 and were designed by architects John Russell Pope, Romaine-Walker, and Gilbert Jenkins. Hamilton's project details remain undisclosed, but the Tate's official statement describes it as an immersive installation merging sculpture and performance.