This week, a new, decade-long collaboration between London’s Serpentine and New York’s FLAG Art Foundation wrapped around what will become the UK’s most significant contemporary art prize awarded to a single artist in the UK. £200,000 a time, five times over ten years — a substantial investment that demonstrates a shared commitment to nurturing talent. A bold claim, an even bolder promise that should resonate with those who value meaningful support for artists.
It’s great to see institutions on opposite sides of the Atlantic align themselves in this way. This prize is serious money for artists at a pivotal stage. A career changer. Each winner receives a whole solo exhibition, premiering either at Serpentine or FLAG before being reimagined for the partner venue. One show, two cities, two audiences, two curatorial approaches. A built-in echo that forces the work to stretch, migrate, and mutate.
The first award starts in 2026. The inaugural exhibition opens at Serpentine in Autumn 2027 before heading to New York the following Spring. Expect catalogues, a new live events programme, and all the peripheral scaffolding that signals an institution taking itself — and its artists — seriously. But what matters here isn’t just scale; it’s intention. Both organisations frame the partnership as a commitment to experimentation and, that overused but increasingly vital word, exchange. If Serpentine has spent the past half-century cultivating an international reach from the calm lawns of Kensington Gardens, FLAG has spent its 16 years carving out a sharp-edged civic presence in Manhattan. Together, they claim they’re looking forward, past the national silos that often shape who gets to be seen and when.
Bettina Korek, Serpentine’s CEO, situates the whole endeavour within the institution’s longstanding flirtation with cross-pollination — artists, audiences, ideas bouncing back and forth, Zaha Hadid’s restless experimental energy hovering in the background like an unofficial patron saint. Hans Ulrich Obrist, never one to miss an opportunity for a numerical flourish, calls the project “Serpentine + FLAG equals 11,” which is both cryptic and very Obrist. Still, the sentiment is clear enough: visibility for artists who haven’t yet had it, oxygen for practices that deserve more than localised applause.
From the FLAG side, Glenn Fuhrman is disarmingly straightforward. This is their most significant commitment to artists outside the US, he says, and they’re doing it with Serpentine because the belief systems align: champion the work, widen the audience, keep the doors open. It’s worth remembering that FLAG’s track record with the Suzanne Deal Booth Prize — Nicole Eisenman, Tarek Atoui, Lubaina Himid, Sable Elyse Smith — shows they aren’t shy about backing artists already vibrating at the edge of something significant.
Eligibility for the new prize is broad. Any age, any geography, but less than ten years of professional exhibition history and a demonstrated drive to build a sustained international presence. It’s an interesting threshold: not “emerging,” but not quite “established” either — that complicated middle ground where many artists produce their strongest work yet often struggle for institutional traction. A nomination process and a rotating jury of curators, historians, and artists will select the recipients—names to come later, presumably once the machinery is entirely in motion.
The announcement indicates something larger shifting behind the scenes — a hint of where the Serpentine intends to steer itself next. Their programme has already been edging past its own boundaries for years, drifting from gallery interiors into public space, tech labs, and whatever strange pockets of the city would have them. This new prize aligns with that direction. It is a deliberate push to widen their sphere of influence, and to keep London stubbornly lodged in the centre of the contemporary art conversation, even as attention skitters elsewhere.
“We are delighted to launch the largest contemporary art prize in the UK. What makes this prize so significant is its focus on artists who have not yet received the visibility or recognition they deserve. This has long been central to Serpentine’s programme: from presenting the first UK monographic exhibitions for emerging artists to championing overlooked voices whose contributions merit greater acknowledgement. Serpentine + FLAG Art Foundation equals 11, and we look forward to this new adventure.” – Hans Ulrich Obrist, Serpentine Artistic Director.
It’s easy to feel cynical about yet another prize announcement — and there’s always the risk of philanthropic theatre — but there’s something unusually grounded here. A decade-long plan in an industry addicted to immediacy. A cross-Atlantic pathway for artists who usually navigate these cities separately. An insistence that visibility should come with structure, not just spectacle.
Is this just another art prize? In a landscape where arts funding is evaporating, this collaboration is a rare gesture. Whether it reshapes careers or strengthens the bridge between London and New York remains to be seen. But for now, it’s a welcome gesture — and a reminder that sometimes institutions really do decide to play the long game.