The Turner Prize 2009
It is one of the most prestigious art prizes of all time and also one of the most controversial. After weeks of media hype and the usual accusations of dumbing down, the art world is finally ready to crown its next enfant terrible with the announcement of the 2009 Turner Prize winner tonight.
Established in 1984 and named after the painter J.M.W. Turner, the illustrious gong is presented each year to a British visual artist under the age of 50. Organised by the Tate Gallery, it has the power to make or break a career. Past winners have included such luminaries as Anish Kapoor, Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin.
With a cheque for £40,000 up for grabs it is the award that every fledging artist craves. Chosen for work they have showcased in the previous year, nominees are invited to put on a show representative of their nominated exhibit at Tate Britain. Public nominations are received in May, the work opens at Tate Britain in October and a celebrity guest concludes the auspicious proceedings in December.
Each year the question on everyone’s lips is “is this really art?” and each year the jury is out on this one. The prize has come in for more than its fair share of condemnation and derision, with some critics believing it to be nothing more than a way of promoting private collectors such as Charles Saatchi and Nicholas Logsdail who have dominated shortlists in recent years.
Associated primarily with conceptual art, the exhibits shamelessly push the boundaries of taste and artistic legitimacy. Everything from pickled sharks, descriptions of pornographic films and balls of elephant dung has whipped the press and public into a frenzy. Even the government has stepped into the furore with Culture Minister Kim Howells infamously calling the prize “cold mechanical, conceptual bullshit.”
The greatest outrage was caused by Tracey Emin’s My Bed in 1999 – a doubled bed soiled with menstrual blood, used condoms and underwear. Close second was 2001 winner Martin Creed with an empty room with the lights simply going on and off. And who can forget Simon Starling’s 2005 offering – a shed that he had converted into a boat and sent sailing down the River Rhine.
Unsurprising, this has all made arch enemies The Stuckist art group, fervent proponents of figurative art, apoplectic. Staging their first protest at Tate Britain in 2000 they declared the prize an “on going joke,” sentiments that had already been voiced by the K Foundation as early as 1993, who set up the “Anti-Turner Prize” to be given to the “worst artist in Britain.” Hilariously, they gave the prize to the winner of that year’s Turner, Rachel Whiteread, who even more hilariously actually accepted it.
The controversy hasn’t just been limited to the nominees. In 2001 the ever provocative Madonna caused indignation when she swore while presenting the prize on national TV. More embarrassing still was Judge Lynn Barber’s article in The Observer in 2006 in which she openly mused “is it all a fix?” Not the sort of press you want.
Recent years have lacked such sensational scandal, with The Stuckists even announcing they would not be protesting in 2007 because of the “lameness” of the show. What never changes, however, is eclectic, bizarre array of exhibits clambering for the contentious accolade. This year’s nominees are Lucy Skaer, Enrico David, Richard Wright and Roger Hiorns. Hiorns is the standout. He is nominated for filling a derelict South London council flat with copper sulphate solution and then waiting until the entire space became encrusted with blue crystallisation. It’s the kind of unapologetically quirky, borderline grotesque concept that has historically sat well with the judges. Whoever wins, the fallout is going to be fun to watch, with the emotions as varied as any of the exhibits – indignation, incredulity and insults. It’s all par for the course with The Turner and if we are honest, we wouldn’t have it any other way.
The winner of the Turner Prize was anounced last night ( 7th December ) and it wasn't Hiorns, as we ( and most ) had expected but Richard Wright for his gold leaf fresco.
