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A huge pile of dust and the skull of a sperm whale are among this year's shortlisted entries for the Turner Prize.
Artist Roger Hiorns, 34, has created an installation from the metal dust of an atomised passenger jet engine as well as sculptures made from fusing cow brains with plastic and steel.
The work was unveiled at Tate Britain today alongside that of three other artists shortlisted for the £25,000 prize.
Lucy Skaer, 34, is showing the skull of a sperm whale next to a series of 26 sculptures made from coal dust.
Italian-born Enrico David, 43, who has been based in London since graduating from Central St Martins, incorporates children's dolls and images from gay pornography. But the exhibit is more disturbing for the distended bodies and sinister carnival figures.
Richard Wright, 49, from London, is the most traditional of the four artists. His intricate hand-crafted gold leaf painting takes up an entire wall.
Curator Lizzie Carey-Thomas praised this year's shortlist saying the artists dealt with overlapping themes concerning transformation.
She said: “All of the artists are working very closely with their materials, there is a theme of constantly transforming images.
“Hiorns uses industrial processes in his work. The jet engine was atomised by a procedure used to recycle engine parts. The fact that it's a jet engine taps into our fears of flying and fears of technology.
“The other artists are also looking at the idea of a transformation in their work in different ways.”
Video installations which have featured so prominently in recent years in the Turner Prize exhibition are conspicuously absent this time. However, the four artists have made short films of them talking about their work.
Gallery: Click here to see pictures of the Turner shortlist
This year also marks the 25th anniversary of the Turner Prize and Ms Carey-Thomas told how she believes the annual competition has helped popularise contemporary art to the general public.
She said: “When it started in 1984 it was quite a small elitist world and it has gone on to make British art important and significant today.
“It has managed to bring contemporary art to a much broader public and make it part of the national debate.”
The Turner Prize exhibition opens to the public tomorrow at Tate Britain and the prize will be awarded in December.
TURNER PRIZE SHORTLIST
Enrico David Absuction Cardigan 2009: an installation including images of dolls, pornography and sculptures of two papier-mache eggmen. David is described as “a brilliant and authentically creative stylist”.
Roger Hiorns Untitled 2008: metal dust from an atomised passenger jet engine and three sculptures. He is famous for transforming a condemned London flat into a cavern filled with eerie blue crystals.
Lucy Skaer Thames and Hudson 2009: installation comprising the skull of a sperm whale, coal dust sculptures and drawings of a chair. Born in Cambridge, she specialises in work that interacts with the public.
Richard Wright Untitled gold leaf painting: a graduate of the Edinburgh College of Art, Wright paints abstract wall drawings in unconventional spaces.
