Turner Prize 2014

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by Bryony Harrison (subscribe)

Freelance writer and poet from London; if you would like to read my poetry, please check out my book, 'Poems on the Page', available from goo.gl/Ta4oAX.

Event: 30/09/2014 - 04/01/2015

Where are all the Paintings?

Image from www.tate.org.uk/

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Named after the famous artist, J.M.W. Turner, the Turner Prize is a competition founded by the Tate Gallery, and is now in its thirtieth year. The £25,000 prize is eligible to any artist under fifty, who is living in Britain and has presented an outstanding exhibition within the last year.

Just to prove that 'art' has undergone great changes within the last thirty years, none of the four shortlisted contenders have produced paintings. Nor have they created sculptures.Three were nominated for film works, while the fourth, Ciara Phillips, was not even nominated for a piece of art. but a print workshop. She invited other artists to come and make prints with her.

Personally, I consider this a shame. Call me old fashioned, but I think video works should be saved for a different category, and I don't consider a workshop art, but rather a place to create art. Considering the contest is named after one of the best eighteenth/nineteenth century painters, I think at least one form of traditional art should be in the shortlist. I find it hard to believe there were no worthy paintings to be candidates.

No doubt James Richard's Rosebud 2013, Tris Vonna-Michell's Finding Chopin: Dan l'Essex, and Duncan Cambell's It For Others are all excellent, but couldn't they be nominated for a prize specifically for video?

Whatever your opinion, the nominated works can be seen at Tate Britain until the 4th January. Tickets are £11 for adults, £9.50 concessions, and free for under 12s. Each artist will give a talk on selected nights, and the winner will be announced on 1st December, live on Channel 4.

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