The name of our greatest painter has been sullied for years by association with an annual Prize that is supposed to go to worthy works of art. In previous years, as I've related to FW list in times past, the Turner Prize has been won by Chris Ofill's elephant dung painting, Tracey Emins Unmade bed, and Damien Hirst's Pickled Sheep.
The shortlist for this year has just been drawn up. Refreshingly, we now have a government minister (for Tourism, Film and Broadcasting) who is able to speak his mind. Kim Howell does this from time to time. (Last year, he described the royal family as "all a bit bonkers". This got him into a lot of trouble, but I'd say that it was one of the understatements of the year.) Anyway, back to the Turner Prize—from the FT of today: <<<< MINISTER'S NOTE OF DISCORD ON TURNER PRIZE Cathy Newman The four entries shortlisted for this year's Turner Prize are "conceptual bullshit", according to Kim Howells, the culture minister. Mr Howell's was so incesed by the standard of the contesders for the £20,000 prize that he gave his brutal verdict ina signed comment card pegged to the wall at tate britain, where the Turner Prize exhibition is being held. The minister —who lists art as one of his interests in "Who's Who"—lambasted the "cold, mechanical, conceptual bullshit" on dislpay, and write of his worries that British art is "lost". In a postscript he added, "The attempts at contextualism are particularly pathetic and symptomatic of a lack of conviction." The two men and two women have been shortlisted for this year's prize. Fiona Banner, who uses pornographic film to explore sexuality, is showing "Arsewomen in Wonderland", a giant billboard inscribed with her description of an x-rated "Alice in "Wonderland". Liam Gillick has covered a ceiling with with brightly covered perspex squares, and one of Catherine Yass' works was filmed from a model helicopter flying around the roof of Broadcasting House. Mr Howells, whose favourite artists include Lucian freud and Jackson Pollck, told the FT yesterday: "If this is the best that the British art establishment can come up with, God help us." >>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------ Keith Hudson, General Editor, Handlo Music, http://www.handlo.com 6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England Tel: +44 1225 312622; Fax: +44 1225 447727; mailto:khudson@;handlo.com ________________________________________________________________________
