Peterborough artist Rene Matić wins the Deutsche Börse photography award | Drawing

Rene Matić, whose work is known to modern British people and is called “the Wolfgang Tillmans of their generation”, has won Deutsche Börse Drawing Foundation Award 2026.

The Peterborough-born artist was awarded the £30,000 prize, which is one of Europe’s top art prizes, after being nominated alongside Jane Evelyn Atwood, Weronika Gęsicka and Amak Mahmoodian.

Matić, who was re-elected Turner prize in 2025they became known for their exhibition at the CCA in Berlin, called As Opposites of Truth, which wrote about queer love, nationalism and different subcultures.

“Parts of conflict. Parts of passion. Parts of violence,” is how Matić described it showwhich included pictures, banners with embroidered words and black dolls from thrift stores.

Shoair Mavlian, director of the Photography Center and chairman of the Deutsche Börse jury, said Matić’s use of “deep and experimental photography” impressed the jury.

He added: “The construction of the setting, where the different dialogues are created and then put together and rearranged the images was something that we thought was interesting and fun.”

“Symbolism does a lot for me,” Matić once said of their work. “Inquiring about blessings and possessions, true or false. I use the flag as a metaphor for strength and power.”

As opposed to the truth was the first solo show that Matić had in Germany, but he was shown extensively in the UK and throughout Europe, including a joint show with Oscar Murillo in. Kunthalle Vienna in Austria, where their work was inspired by Josephine Baker.

Matić has had the words “Born British Die British” tattooed on his back after being inspired by photo by Derek Ridgerswho documented the fascist scene of 1970s Britain. Matić’s work is often inspired by cultural influences from the blind band his father was with in the 1980s, to Northern Soul.

“(The paintings) were always between the time of being born in Britain and dying in Britain,” Matić. once said. “That’s what my story is about.”

“I wanted to immerse myself in that story. I found Derek’s pictures (of skins) when I was young. I think I was looking for myself, or my father, in that scene.

Their Turner Prize-nominated work was described by Adrian Searle: “Peace and protest, friendship and family are all mixed together, along with contested ideas about the world and being human…

They were also called “a silent observer of things,” he wrote.

Evelyn Atwood was nominated for her book Too Much Time, a ten-year study of the lives of women in prison, which takes place during the American execution of female prisoners in Eastern Europe.

Iranian artist Mahmoodian was chosen for One Hundred and Twenty Minutes, which refers to the amount of time that people spend dreaming each night – especially in the dreams of immigrants who want to make a new life.

Polish artist Gęsicka became famous for his fictional book Encyclopedia, which created fake articles through artificial intelligence inspired by real lies in reference books.

It was the first application that used AI to be nominated for the award and it came at the right time artists have encouraged companies to cooperate art.

Mavlian said: “We can’t escape the fact that artists will use it in different ways and creatively. It’s certainly a big topic of discussion for artists right now and rightly so.”

All shortlisted artists received £5,000.