December 15, 2011
Filed under: Art events — Alan @ 8:26 am
One of the most prestigious art honours in the world is the Turner prize this week the ceremony where the awards are given is being held outside London. This is only the second time in nearly 30 years that the ceremony has been held outside the capital city and is being held in Gateshead. Mario Testino, the photographer, is giving the prize this year.
Many people have welcomed the move at the award ceremony outside the capital as it helps people remember that the award is a national recognition and not just focused on artists living in London. The Independent recently published a story saying, “The Turner prize is normally awarded at the Tate Britain and it is a good idea to move outside of the capital city to a more interesting location.”
The artist who receives the award will garner an almost celebrity like status and they will also receive a prize of £25,000. There are four nominees for this year’s Turner prize including Martin Boyce, George Shaw, Karla Black and Hillary Lloyd.
Currently the favourite for the award is Mr Boyce but Mr Shaw is a close second favourite. Shaw is the only painter from this year’s nominees and he is known for painting crumbling buildings in urban landscapes. His images are small but incredibly detailed.
The other two nominees are quite a way behind the two favourites according to bookmakers. Lloyd created a room of video and mixes technology with art wonderfully. Black created a fragile installation which involved curtains made of cellophane. Many people have seen this as a very competitive year for art and the prize is highly sought after.
December 9, 2010
Filed under: Art News — Alan @ 6:17 am
This year’s Turner prize is favoured to go to a song and its singer. It is the very first time since the prize was developed, in 1984, that a sound installation gained the shortlist. In it, three distinct adaptations of the Scottish folk song, Lowlands Away, is sung by Susan Phillipsz.
The story of the song is a tale about a man who dies at sea but returns home to inform his lover about his fate. The Curator of the Tate Britain, where the prize will be awarded, described it as a physical work that fills the otherwise empty gallery.
Dexter Dalwood made the shortlist as well, with a collection of political paintings wherein one features Dr. David Kelly’s death. The Otolith Group and Angela de la Cruz are also in the running on the shortlist. Each shortlisted artist receives £5000 and the grand prize winner gets an additional £25,000.
While Ms. Phillipsz song might be a slightly controversial artwork, the Turner prize is no stranger to controversy. Tracey Emin had a shortlisted work in 1999 entitled, My Bed, which was literally her unmade bed, featuring stained sheets.
Martin Creedwhose won the prize for a very much-ridiculed work called, The Lights Going On and Off, back in 2001.
May 7, 2010
Filed under: Art News — Alan @ 2:28 am
Dexter Dalwood, the artist behind the painting of Dr. David Kelly’s death, which echoed throughout the Scottish history via an astronaut on board of the Soviet space station in 2003 was acclaimed as original, unique, melancholic, and at sometimes even lyrical.
However, even though Dalwoods’ Bristol Banksy exhibition was extremely popular those who love him including the Turner Prize judge Andrew Nairne will be disappointed since the street artist did not make the final shortlist of the 2010 Turner prize.
His most notable painting is The Death of David Kelly which some people compare to The Death of Marat by Charlotte Corday and is thought to have a great historical value to it.
However, comparing these two paintings is a mistake given that Dalwoods’ is drastically different. In it is a tree that has a moon behind it sitting atop a mound which is thought to be a vision of Kelly’s death instead of a direct depiction of the manner in which he created suicide back in 2003.
Other glorified works by Dalwood include the Brighton Bomb and the Greenham Common dispute that are construed scenes from media pictures meant to exemplify his belief that history is just a piece of fiction that has been written and thus can be taken from a subjective point of view which should not be considered to be of any less value than any other images from a specific event or time.
December 8, 2009
Filed under: Art events — Alan @ 7:15 am
Richard Wright who has been known as one of the quietist of the flamboyant artists received the Turner Prize Award which totals £25,000.
Wright is known for his ‘out there’ style of works which are usually made of some rare and weird materials such as a whale skull or cows’ brains.
Wright said that he was shocked to find out he won the award, and that he has no idea what he will spend it on outside of some bills.
Aged 49, Wright was the oldest artist on the shortlist for the Turner making the list by one year. His work was often drawn directly onto the gallery walls in which it was displayed and at the end of a show he often whitewashes his work.
One of the unique talents of Wright is that he does not preconceive his work; instead he simply stares at the blank wall as a canvas and then gets to work. His entry for the Turner Award was a covering a large wall at Tate Britain with wallpaper with a Braque print of gold leaf geometrical patterns.
The Jury for the Turner Award including the director of Tate Britain, Stephen Deucher and Mariella Frostup the broadcaster. Both stated that they admired the beauty of his work as well as its originality.
Wright was born in London but moved to Scotland at a young age and was schooled at the Edinburgh College of Art. Currently Wright resides in the town of Glasgow.
One of the most prestigious art honours in the world is the Turner prize this week the ceremony where the awards are given is being held outside London. This is only the second time in nearly 30 years that the ceremony has been held outside the capital city and is being held in Gateshead. Mario Testino, the photographer, is giving the prize this year.