Anthea Hamilton brings pumpkin performers and 7,000 tiles to Tate Britain

Turner Prize nominee Anthea Hamilton has transformed Tate Britain’s Duveen Galleries with 7,000 white floor tiles — and a team of performers dressed as pumpkins.

The Londoner, who was nominated for British art’s biggest prize for work including a 10-metre-high sculpture of a pair of buttocks, teamed up with fashion house LOEWE for the show.

She worked with designer Jonathan Anderson on the outfits and headpieces which Tate say “incorporate the colours and shapes of varieties of squash or pumpkin” with performers wearing different costumes each day as they move around large podiums.

The show, called The Squash, is the latest annual Tate Britain Commission which asks contemporary British artists to create new work in response to the building’s grand space.

Gallery director Alex Farquharson said: “Anthea Hamilton has made a unique contribution to British and international art with her visually playful works that both provoke and delight. This compelling commission demonstrates her ability to seamlessly weave together captivating images and narratives, creating rich new environments in which to encounter works of art.”

Hamilton, a Londoner who studied at the Royal College of Art, is known for her large, site-specific work, including her 2016 show Lichen! Libido! Chastity! Other artists to have featured in the commission, sponsored by Sotheby’s, include Martin Creed.

Alex Branczik, Sotheby’s head of contemporary art in Europe, said: “We are proud to be celebrating the eleventh anniversary of our support for the commission, which is as unmissable as ever with Anthea Hamilton’s remarkable installation.”