Dirty pictures up for Turner Prize
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The British art award could go to a film featuring a few saucy clips
An artist who weaves together old videotape footage, YouTube clips and censored erotic images and another who delivers fast-paced spoken performances have made the shortlist of this year’s Turner Prize for contemporary art.
James Richards and Tris Vonna-Michell join filmmaker Duncan Campbell and print-maker Ciara Phillips as nominees for the 25,000 pound (Bt1.37-million) prize.
The Turner Prize, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, was made famous by Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin and is notorious for challenging the public’s perceptions about what constitutes art.
But this year’s shortlist is more about showcasing the diversity of work and techniques used by young artists, from traditional crafts to online imagery.
“The four short-listed artists share a strong international presence and an ability to adapt, re-stage and reinterpret their own and others’ works, very often working in collaborative social contexts,” said jury chairperson Penelope Curtis.
Richards, a 30-year-old Welshman who lives and works in Berlin, is known for splicing together videos from a wide variety of sources, including YouTube and his own footage.
He has been nominated for his black-and-white film “Rosebud”, which features shots of erotic books taken from a Tokyo library in which the censors have scratched out the genitalia.
Vonna-Michell, 31, performs live or through recorded narratives filled with deviations and repetitions, often accompanied by installations providing a kind of visual script.
British-born Vonna-Michell was short-listed for a recent solo exhibition in Brussels, “Postscript II (Berlin)”.
Phillips, 37, who was born in Canada but works in Glasgow, is a printmaker who uses photographs and textiles to create paintings as well as installations.
She was nominated for a two-month workshop, “The Showroom”, in London last year, where she produced new screen prints in collaboration with other artists and invited groups, including local women’s groups.
Campbell, who was born in Ireland in 1972 and lives and works in Glasgow, was nominated for his presentation “It and Others”, which was shown in Venice last year. The film is a response to a 1953 video essay about the commercialisation of African art, and includes filmed and archive footage, animation and a dance performance.
The prize is open to any contemporary artist under the age of 50 who was born in Britain or is living or working there and is judged on the work they have shown in the last 12 months.
The winner takes the largest prize, although each of the nominees receive 5,000 pound. They will be awarded on December 1.
