With the ringing in of 2019, a new set of people in the arts have been recognized by Queen Elizabeth for their work. Included on the UK’s list of honourees was artists Gillian Wearing, Sonia Boyce, Tacita Dean, Alison Wilding, and Yinka Shonibare. Additionally, museum directors Ian Blatchford, Samuel Mullins, Carline Collier, Andrea Nixon, and Andrew Nairne were honoured alongside curator Ann Dumas.
A number of those honoured have been previously recognized by the Queen adding to their accolades. Boyce, who previously earned an MBE (member of the Order of the British Empire), acquired an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) along with Wilding. Meanwhile, Wearing and Dean (both formerly OBEs), and Shonibare (previously MBE) received the honour of Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).
In April this year, Wearing unveiled her statue in Parliament Square of Suffragist Millicent Fawcett in commemoration of the centennial of Women’s Suffrage. Wearing also won the 1997 Turner Prize and was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in London as a lifetime member in 2007. Boyce, a British Afro-Caribbean artist, has extensively collaborated with other artists since 1990 exploring social practice. She has also taught within Fine Arts for more than 30 years. Best known for her filmmaking, Dean trained as a painter and explores the relationship between fiction and reality. In 2006, Dean won the Hugo Boss Prize and DAAD Fellowship. She has also been shortlisted for the Turner Prize and exhibited in Tate’s renowned Turbine Hall. Wilding has made a name for herself as an artist in abstract sculptures during her 50 years working. Most recently, she completed public commissions for England’s National Memorial Arboretum. Shonibare has become most known recently for his works concerning colonialism and post-colonialism within the context of globalization. Working in a number of medias, his work was nominated for the 2004 Turner Prize. In 2008, a mid-career survey of Shonibare’s work toured the US and Australia. Recently, Shonibare wrapped up a commission with the Public Art Fund for New York City’s Central Park.
In the museum sector, Blatchford, director of the Science Museum Group that oversees London’s Science Museum, was knighted ‘for services to cultural education.’ Mullins, director of London’s Transport Museum, Collier director of partnerships and programmes at Tate, and Nairne, director of the University of Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard gallery received an OBE. Dumas, curator at London’s Royal Academy of Arts, and Nixon, once executive director of Tate Liverpool, were awarded with an MBE.
