It gives me great pleasure to announce Identity’s partnership with The Towner, Eastbourne and quite possibly, the best-known prize for contemporary visual arts in the world – the Turner Prize.

Identity team stand in front of sign celebrating the Turner Prize
From left to right: Michael Gietzen (CEO), Paul Fitzpatrick (MD), Janet Dodd (CSO).

We know this is a perfect match. Our fit is good, the relationship feels natural and intuitively right because, like the Turner Prize, Identity inspire people through our work as a leading global events agency, producing visual arts and experiences that immerse and engage our audiences.

Identity pushes the creative boundaries of what’s possible on a world stage, while the Turner Prize pushes its own creative boundaries as the most avant-garde cultural event of the year. And similar to the many high-profile (British and international) events that we create, the Turner Prize is a prominent British event. We both turn heads, engage audiences; grab headlines and have stood the test of time. Indeed, now in its 38th year, the Turner Prize and I are the same age too! The fact that the Turner Prize 2023 comes to Towner* – in my home town of Eastbourne – is an added bonus.

The prize is named after the great painter JW Turner, who, after his death in 1851, hoped to leave part of his estate to help “distressed landscape painters” and “poor and decayed artists”. While over time the criteria have broadened, the essence of the prize – to support artists with boundary-pushing thought-provoking conceptional ideas – has remained steadfast.

Our CEO standing outside the Tate Modern.
Michael Gietzen (CEO) outside the Tate Modern, London.
Members of Identity standing in front of a podium at the Turner Prize
From left to right: Josh Babarinde, Matt Garcia, Michael Gietzen, Maria Jane Balshaw CBE (Director of the Tate Modern), Joe Hill (Director of The Towner).

The prize has been controversial at times – yet it has always grabbed our attention, made us think and stimulated discussions. At Identity we promote and encourage debate, aiming to inspire and challenge everyone – ourselves and our clients to deliver creativity with impact.

Whatever the line-up, the Turner Prize provides an opportunity to discuss the issues explored by the artists and, of course, a chance to select who we think should win. It’s an exciting time for us all at Identity too, we are a team of creative people after all!

From everyone at Identity, we send our congratulations to the four Turner Prize shortlisted artists. And look forward, with great anticipation, to the culmination of another exciting event in the creative world.

The British artists on this year’s shortlist are Jesse Darling, Rory Pilgrim, Ghislaine Leung and Barbara Walker. The exhibition of the artists’ work will be at Towner Eastbourne from September 28, 2023 to April 14, 2024.

The winner will be announced in December.

See you there!

Identity team in front of Towner
From left to right: Michael Gietzen (CEO), Mary Carter-Lee (People & Culture Director), Matt Garcia (Client Strategy Director).

Michael Gietzen