Cathy's Art Diary

Interesting exhibition at Tate Britain marking this year’s Turner Prize for contemporary art. It showcased the four quite different finalists and yet I felt they were looking at quite similar themes. The show started with Pio Abad who had investigated and reacted to items in Oxford museums acquired during the colonial era. The work was beautiful and layered in meaning.   I was intrigued to find one work was inspired by the fact he lives in the Grand Stores of the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich which served as the primary storage facility for the military equipment of the British Army and Navy. My flat overlooks them!   Next was Jasleen Kaur’s installations using objects with reflect her multicultural childhood in Glasgow. Who can resist an oversized doillie on a Ford Escort. Then came another installation artist, Delaine Le Bas, exploring their culture, in this case Roma people, with ethereal crepe and a silver room. I’m not sure I really understood it. Finally there were ...

Eclectic exhibition at Tate Britain of the shortlisted nominations for this year’s Turner Prize for contemporary art. Helen Marten’s work consisted of sculptures based on collage like collections of found objects. The blurb said the three works suggested work stations but I must admit I didn’t get that. I’m afraid they gave me an urge to tidy up! I did like the unfired classic tea pots though! Josephine Pryde presented a series of photographs of hands emphasising the point at which hands and objects meeting, a rather interesting concentrated study. However I preferred the fun “New Media Express on a Temporary Siding”, a model train which has been in various shows and has been tagged by graffiti artists in each city it has been shown in. Michael Dean’s work was strange sculptures based on writing. He makes casts of words and then distorts them. I must admit it was lost on me! I did like his installation “United Kingdom Poverty Line for Tow Adults and Two Children” whic...

Disappointing exhibition at Tate Britain for this year’s Turner Prize. I went with an open mind and wanted to like is but just couldn’t. As you’ll see from the picture the best bit was the comments board at the end. Three of the artists had done not very inspiring video art which frankly I couldn’t be bothered to give the time they needed.   When I saw one of the winner Duncan Campbell’s video’s was 54 minutes long I just walked through. I am sure I’ve said it before but I won’t want to spend that sort of length of time in an art gallery looking at a pretentious film. The fourth artist Ciara Phillips was a bit more interesting with an installation room with wall’s covered in repetitive prints in bright colours/ The commentary said she “initiatives ideas and situations through the process of printing” whatever that means! Sorry but this can’t be the best that contemporary art has to offer! Reviews Independent Evening Standard  

Annual exhibition for the Turner Prize at Tate Britain . This year it featured just four artists and thank goodness none of them were video installations. My favorite was the first one Lucy Staer. I loved her whale skeleton in a small space which you looked into via slits. From some angles you got wonderful abstract views and looked at the texture more than the reality. The winner Richard Wright had done a lovely wall of gold painting like flock wallpaper! Enrico David did not move me and the only highlight was the works title Absuction Cardigan! Finally there was David Hiorns with at atomised jet engine which looked like sand. This not only raised the question why but also how! Reviews Times Guardian Daily Telegraph Independent Evening Standard

Exhibition at Tate Britain examining the influence on Turner of the Old Masters and his contemporaries. Often Turner is trying to outdo the other artists and prove his place in art history. The exhibition also shed light on the workings of the art world around 1800 looking at the markets and the importance of the Royal Academy exhibitions. I found it a very intellectual exhibition which was I admit a bit hard going at times. I did however like that fact that in most cases the works which had actually influenced Turner were hung alongside his own works. My favorite pictures were the ones of Venice. I loved the one of St Marks Square in which Turner had included Canelletto painting the same scene. Next to it was a wonderful late picture of Bellini’s being delivered to a church. The exhibition did get the prize for the worst picture I’ve seen this year! A picture of Jessica from the Merchant of Venice by Turner. Thank goodness he mainly stuck to landscapes! Reviews Times Guardian Daily T...

Annual exhibition at Tate Britain of the short listed artists in the Turner Prize. I must admit none of them made me stand back and think “silly” this year. Goshka Macuga looked at archiving, exhibition making and museum display using the works and relationship of Paul Nash and Eileen Agar. This therefore grabbed me from the start and I loved the two large, half cylinders in glass. Cathy Wilkes, had done the manikin on the toilet with supermarket counter, which got the most publicity. I could hear my friend Linda’s voice in my ear saying “Messy”! Runa Islam, was three video installations. I liked the one of breaking china which had a strange tension like an artistic Aunt Sally! Finally Mark Leckey, who won this year, used found material to create images. I liked the fact that the small AV displays were shown on old projectors so making the thing projecting the art part of the piece. Reviews Times Independent Evening Standard

Exhibition at Tate Britain featuring works by all the winning artists since it began in 1984. This was a good overview of how the prize, named after Turner as he had wished to set up an award for young artists, has developed since its introduction in 1984. Because many of the works were large I was disappointed that more were not included but it was good to see Damien Hurst’s “Mother and child divided” again. It is a work you need to experience rather than just seeing photos. Also Anthony Gormley was represented by “Testing a World View”. I find Gormley to be the Alan Bennett of the art world, he can be quite ground breaking and edgy but somehow we end up saying “How nice!”. Anyway I thought in a rather pompous fashion I’d look at who I’d have picked in each year! 1985 Terry Atkinson 1986 Derek Jarman 1987 Patrick Caulfield 1988-89 No shortlist 1990 No contest 1991 Rachel Whiteread 1992 Alison Wilbury 1993 Rachel Whiteread 1994 Anthony Gormely 1995 Damien Hurst 1996 Simon Patterson 199...