Love it or Hate it the Turner Prize is one of the most prestigious Art prizes in the whole of the UK. Now the short list for the nominations of this years prize has been released. I’m sure that there will be much public (and private) debate about the validity or suitability of the candidates for this year. Let the red wine flow, let the cheese boards turn and bring on the public artistic debate. Here are your candidates!

Dexter Dalwood

For a solo exhibition at Tate St Ives that revealed the rich depth and varied range of his approach to making paintings which draw upon art history as well as contemporary cultural and political events.

Dexter Dalwood's "History Paintings"

Dexter Dalwood (born 1960, Bristol, UK) is an artist based in London.

Dalwood received his BA from Central St Martins College of Art, London, in 1985.
He studied for his MA at the Royal College of Art, London, from 1988-1990.

He has shown work internationally in many important exhibitions including the 2002 Sydney Biennial, “Hollywood is a Verb” at Gagosian Gallery in New York, the 19th John Moore’s Painting Prize at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, “Die Young Stay Pretty” at the ICA London, “Remix” at Tate Liverpool and “Neurotic Realism” at the Saatchi Gallery in London. He is represented by Gagosian Gallery. Before becoming an artist he was a member of the punk rock band The Cortinas.

Angela de la Cruz - Camden Arts Centre - Still Life (Table), 2000 -Courtesy the artist and Lisson Gallery, London

Angela de la Cruz

For her solo exhibition, After at Camden Arts Centre, London. De la Cruz uses the language of painting and sculpture to create striking works that evoke memory and desire through combining formal tension with a deeper emotional presence.

Angela de la Cruz born in 1965 (La Coruna, Spain) is a London based artist who recieved her BA (HONS) in Fine Art from Goldsmiths College, London then went on to do a masters in Sculpture and Critical Theory, Slade School of Art, London (1996).
She has had a busy career, showing her works all over the world from the Bermuda National Gallery (2002) all the way to Australia (2005).

Susan Philipsz

For presentations of her work at the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art and in Mirrors, Museo de Arte Contemporanea de Vigo, Spain. Philipsz uses her own singing voice to create uniquely evocative sound installations that respond to the character of specific, often out-of-the-way spaces.

A Glasgow lass, Susan was born in 1965 and completed a BA in Fine Art Sculpture at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art between 1989 and 1993. She completed her academia at the University of Ulster, Belfast, UK during 1993 – 1994 where she finished an MA in Fine Art.

Her first exhibition, titled “Strip Tease” (The Annual Programme, Manchester, UK) in 1998 was quickly followed by her second solo exhibition “Red Standard” in 1998 over the pond in the Chicago. Since then Susan has been a busy bee with a recent exhibition in Japan.
You can see many of Susan’s visual / audio works on YouTube, here’s one now:

The Otolith Group

A Long Time Between Suns

For their project A Long Time Between Suns, which took the form of exhibitions at Gasworks and The Showroom,

London with accompanying publication. The Otolith Group work collaboratively across a range of disciplines, in particular the moving image, to investigate overlooked histories through archival and documentary material.

So who actually ARE the Otolith Group and WHAT is an otolith? Well from their website http://otolithgroup.org/ we can ascertain that they were founded in 2000 by its core members, Anjalika Sagar and Kodwo Eshun who live and work in London. Though that doesn’t answer the question, what’s an otolith. After a little bit of research (Buddha bless the Google Machine) I’ve found that an otolith is a tiny structure in the inner ear comprised mainly of calcium carbonate, found in the inner ear of vertebrates, being part of the balance sense. You learn something new every day.

Kodwo Eshun (born 1967) is a British writer and theorist. He studied English Literature (BA Hons, MA Hons) at University College, Oxford University  and Post Colonial Discourse Analysis MA Hons at Southampton University. He is currently course leader of the MA in Aural and Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths College, University of London.

Anjalika Sagar (born) completed a degree at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London between 1995 and 1998.

Neither artists are schooled or trained artists, so I find their perspective fresh and exciting.

The Turner Prize award is £40,000 with £25,000 going to the winner and £5,000 each for the other shortlisted artists. The Prize, established in 1984, is awarded to a British artist under fifty for an outstanding exhibition or other presentation of their work in the twelve months preceding 27 April 2010. It is intended to promote public discussion of new developments in contemporary British art and is widely recognised as one of the most important and prestigious awards for the visual arts in Europe.

Work by the shortlisted artists will be shown in an exhibition at Tate Britain opening on 4 October 2010. The winner will be announced at Tate Britain on 6 December 2010 during a live broadcast by Channel 4.

The members of the Turner Prize 2010 jury are:

Isabel Carlos, Director, Centre for Modern Art CAMJAP

Philip Hensher, Writer, critic and journalist

Andrew Nairne, Executive Director, Arts Strategy, Arts Council England

Polly Staple, Director, Chisenhale Gallery

The jury is chaired by Penelope Curtis, Director, Tate Britain

Want more info?  Go to: http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/turnerprize/

Author: admin