The Turner Prize 2011

I'm so excited!!

This year the short-listed nominations are a great range and i want to talk about them a little.

George Shaw 

I'm a little bit biased towards George Shaw as I have just today completed my exam and he was a tremendous influence. Although on the face of it I would love for him to win I will explain my internal dilemma later. Shaw is an painter who usually uses enamel on board. His images are representative and always retain an heir of lifelessness to them. The absence of human presence draws you in to connect with the surroundings more potently and this is definitely an eerie setting. "Poets Day" by George Shaw.

Hillary Lloyd

Lloyd is an Installation artist, building her work around technological medium like film, video and photography. The environment she chooses tend to be clinical, voids of minimalist space that seems to become somewhat overbearing and heavy. For me the work feels threatening, possible a comment on mortality?

The above piece is very striking, it at first reminded me of a alien from Dr. Who. The confined corridor points directly at you the viewer as it the medium is watching you instead of the other way around. It definitely has  a very heavy presence that grabs you.

Karla Black

Is a the youngest nominations this year, her scultpures typicaly consist of domestic and tactile substances. Flour, Vaseline, thread and lip gloss in the above piece. This piece seems to be directly contrasted to the work of Lloyd. The piece takes a very passive position and almost looks comforting. The pastel colours and the flowing material resemble soft pillows; something that, although suspended from the ceiling, feels entirely inviting and familiar. However i then discovered that the main material is quite plasticy; this then felt a little more sinister but something that still remained delicate. It felt more anatomical, but I can't really place it.

According to her there needs to be some kind of physical struggle for her work to be created and that the work is specifically relevant to that environment, before it is destroyed. 

Martin Boyce

Boyce is a sculptor, and said to be the best-known out of this years short-list.

His works are somewhat hostile, consisting of geometric forms jutting out of otherwise tranquil spaces and "might be described as playground climbing frames designed to poke a child’s eye out". They are dark and theatrical with a hint of what has been described as 'male egotism' in art. The need for something so secondarily violent to its pre innocent state. They challenge their own environment. This piece above reminded me of the bare springs of an old bed, the spikes upon them strikingly uncomfortable and subtly chilling until the great black mass of threateningly jutting black metal above sinks into sight. The image is impression is threatening to the viewer and seems to be the most sinister this year.

My Opinion

In complete honesty I wouldn't feel let down if any of these artists won this year but personally if I had to choose id be stuck with a very difficult task. Although George Shaw is a great influence of mine, I think his work really speaks to a modern audience but one that seems to be possessed by this need to define what a painting can be. Something that Shaw relatively conforms to. Therefore maybe its more suitable to choose something more striking. Shaw is the first representational artist ever in the turner prize, others that might be deemed as such fall into other movements. But at the same time is that a justification for a vote? Boyce, Black and Lloyd's work are all exciting to me. Boyce's work I liked because of the process of learning about the subject that you go on. As you contemplate it, it grows ever more sinister. Blacks work really got me thinking about less conventional medium; she pushes notions of art to the limit and this I think is profoundly suitable for the Turner Prize. Lloyd's work embraces digital medium and a harrowing of human frealty which I found particularly emotive. Blacks stands out as the most optimistic of the selection as Shaws work also retains a sense of foreboding both in palette choice as the composition remains very heavy and cool but also because of the blatant red splatters on the wall.

I think my hypothetical vote would go to: Boyce of Shaw. I think I need to think about it a little but ill update this post soon.