by Charlotte Hayward
Email me here c.hayward@my.westminster.ac.uk
The Turner Prize
The Turner Prize is a prize named after the British artist, J.M.W Turner who was an English, Romantic landscape painter. It was Turner’s work that is said to have laid down the foundations for impressionism.
It is an annual prize and is presented to a British visual artist under 50 years of age.
It has become an award associated with conceptual art, work in which ‘ideas’ or ‘concepts’ take precedence over traditional aesthetics.
The prize fund amounts to £40,000. The award is exceptionally well publicised as it stirs up an enormous amount of debate and controversy between the art world and the general public.
Previous Winners:
2007: Mark Wallinger won the Turner Prize and £25,000. His official installation was for his film ‘Sleeper’ where he was dressed up in a bear suit. However the prize was officially given for ‘State Britain’ which recreated Brian Haw’s protest against the War in Iraq outside the Houses of Parliament in London.
2005: Simon Starling converted a shed into a boat for this year’s winning entry. His art work was named ‘Shedboatshed’. This year provoked high controversy among The Stuckists and the general public. Two newspapers bought sheds from B&Q and sailed them down the river Thames to parody Starling’s ‘art.’
Courtesty of http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisjohnbeckett/445208136/
2006: German artist Tomma Abts won for her her solo exhibitions at Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland, and greengrassi, London.
Who are The Stuckists?
Stuckism is an art movement which seeks to promote figurative art over conceptual art.
The group was founded in 1999 by Billy Childish and Charles Thomson.
To see the Turner Prize nominations for 2008, click here.
What is the Credit Crunch?
How long is a piece of string? This is a very difficult article to write.
Having asked people who work in investment banks in the City of London what the ‘credit crunch / credit squeeze’ they struggle to answer me.
Russell Thomson, who works for Merill Lynch in Canary Wharf, London has said, ‘the economics of the problem has grown and grown, making it very difficult to track each problem or debt before it manifests itself into another problem. ‘
Wikipedia defines the ‘credit crunch’ as:
- a sudden reduction in the general availability of loans (or credit), or a sudden increase in the cost of obtaining loans from banks.
- Robert Peston, the BBC’s Business Editor has a bash at showing us with a fancy yet simple slide show. He illustrates that we ‘borrowed more than we could pay back.’
Why are some shops in trouble when The Arcadia Group has reported record profits for 2008?
The Arcadia Group is the group behind many high street chains, such as Miss Selfridge, Topman, Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Burtons.
Their Chief Executive is Philip Green who is Britain’s seventh richest man. He also owns BHS (British Home Stores) and in total has 2300 shops in the UK with his total assets worth £3.61 billion.The Arcadia Group’s demographic is the fashion middle market. The clothes are affordably priced and, depending on which shop, they cater for the ‘fashionista’ (Topshop) to a more conservative taste (Dorothy Perkins).Kate Moss is a supermodel who has designed several collections for Topshop using her own wardrobe and life as her inspiration.
Race and The American Election 2008
Barack Obama has not made much of his race during his presidential campaign. During his victory speech he did not even mention Martin Luther King’s name, calling him only ‘a young preacher from Georgia.’
Watch the video here.
America’s past is fraught with racism. Check out this timeline to see how far America has come in less than 200 years. Click here.
Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King was the most prominent civil rights leader of the 50s and 60s.
He was the head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Through his leadership and example, he led peaceful demonstrations and marches to protest discrimination.
Many of his ideas on nonviolence were fashioned on the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi in India.
In 1968, King was assassinated by James Earl Ray.
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Jackson is an American Civil rights activist. In 1984 he ran for Democratic Presidential Nomination. Click here for more information.
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks was called by the US congress as the ‘mother of the modern day civil rights movement.’ She refused to give up her seat on a bus for a white man in 1955.
The Artist Banksy
Banksy once said;
“The thing I hate the most about advertising is that it attracts all the bright, creative and ambitious young people, leaving us mainly with the slow and self-obsessed to become our artists.”
“Modern art is a disaster area. Never in the field of human history has so much been used by so many to say so little.”
Banksy is a graffiti artist who has masked his identity. It is believed that he was born in 1974 in Bristol and despite trying to keep his personal life out of the limelight, some newspapers have published that his real name may ben Robin or Robert Banks.
Banksy himself does not call himself an artist. His work often has a political slant and this has led his work to be distanced from vandalism.
Peter Gibson, a spokesperson for, ‘Keep Britain Tidy’ has said that Banky’s work defaces the surrounding environment.
Banksy’s work
Banksy has built up a portfolio of work;
- On 4 August 2005, the BBC reported that Banksy had painted 9 images on the Palestinian side of the Israeli West Bank barrier, including an image of a ladder up and over the wall and an image of children digging a hole through the wall
- Banksy produced a series of work in New Orleans after Hurrincae Katrina. See them here.
Banksy has also released several books, including Wall and Piece and Banging Your Head Against A Brick Wall.
To see who wants to wash over Banky’s work, click here.
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