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Naked models and a loo with a view at the Turner show
Louise Jury, Chief Arts Correspondent29.09.08
China-smashing women, an art lecture on Homer Simpson - it's autumn at Tate Britain, and that can only mean it's time for the Turner Prize exhibition.
The four artists shortlisted for the contemporary art world's most prestigious prize today unveiled the art which could win them the £25,000 award-winner's cheque.
The china-smashing comes courtesy of a film by Bangladeshi Londoner Runa Islam, 38, in which a well-dressed woman tips piece after piece of crockery on to the floor in a mighty smashfest.
Homer Simpson features in a recorded art lecture by another contender, Birkenhead-born Mark Leckey, 44, in which he explores his fascination with the lives of images on-screen.
The lecture accompanies a series of works set in the artist's Soho studio.
The other two artists are Goshka Macuga, 41, a Polish-born, Londonbasedartist, and Belfast-born Cathy Wilkes, 42, now living in Glasgow.
With three out of the four contenders women, the highest number since 1998 when the male nominee - Chris Ofili - won, it raises the odds of a female victory. It would be only the fourth since the prize began nearly 25 years ago. It also begs the question as to whether gender would show. The answer? A bit.
Wilkes, 42, includes some of her children's empty breakfast bowls in her new installation, I Give You All My Money, which also features a pram and cooker. But the inclusion of her trademark mannequins, one with a head trapped in a cage, the other sitting on a lavatory bedecked with horseshoes, a cup and pieces of wood, means the effect is not exactly cosily domestic.
Macuga has taken inspiration from two professional and personal relationships where the woman is the lesser-known but important partner.
They are architect Mies van der Rohe with Lilly Reich and artist Paul Nash with Surrealist Eileen Agar.
Curator Helen Little said: "She's fascinated by the romance between them."
Islam's films examine the possibilities of film. The china-smashing, Be The First To See What You See As You See It, shows what film can capture in slow motion but which would be impossible to see with the naked eye.
Another film, Cinematography, uses the camera as a pen to spell out the letters of the title.
The exhibition opens to the public tomorrow and runs until 18 January, with admission fee. The winner will be announced in a ceremony broadcast live on Channel 4 on 1 December.
Reader views (2)
Absolutely appalling! Last week I denounced Damien Hirst and Tracy Emin and this week I'm denouncing the entries to the Turner Prize. Turner would be smouldering in his grave if he found out his name had been associated with such rubbish.
- Dhanraj, Basildon, Essex
What a total waste of money and resources. What next?
- Keith Price, Luton, England
