Turner prize 2012 jude law biography

Annual prize presented to a British artist

The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between and , only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the award). The prize is awarded at Tate Britain every other year, with various venues outside of London being used in alternate years. Since its beginnings in it has become the UK's most publicised art award. The award represents all media.

As of , the monetary award was established at £40, There have been different sponsors, including Channel 4 television and Gordon's Gin. A prominent event in British culture, the prize has been awarded by various distinguished celebrities: in this was Yoko Ono, and in it was presented by Jude Law.

It is a controversial event, mainly for the exhibits, such as The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living – a shark in formaldehyde by Damien Hirst – and My Bed, a dishevelled bed by Tracey Emin. Controversy has also come from other directions, including Culture Minister Kim Howells criticising exhibits, a guest of honour (Madonna) swearing, prize judge Lynn Barber writing in the press, and a speech by Sir Nicholas Serota about the purchase of a trustee's work.

Background

The prize was named after Turner, because, though he is now considered one of the country's greatest artists, when he was active, his work was controversial. While he is now looked at as a traditionalist, his new approach to landscape painting changed the course of art history, as many of the Turner Prize winners aspire to do.

Each year after the announcement of the four nominees and during the build-up to the announcement of the winner, the Prize receives intense attention from the media. Much of this attention is critical and the question is often asked, "Is this art?"

The shortlisted a

Thanking the Tate, she also commended the other shortlisted artists for their "respect, camaraderie and a sense of the absurd".

According to the Baltic Gallery in Gateshead, where Price exhibited earlier this year, she "draws upon historical film, photographic archives and collections of artefacts to generate fantasy episodes".

At the exhibition of the nominees' works at Tate Britain, Price combined old music, photographs, video footage and text to depict a tragic fire at a branch of Woolworth's in Manchester in , in which 10 people died.

"When I started making the work, I didn't know it would end up being about that subject. I believe art should be dealing with these subjects and I think art is a way to remember them," said Price.

The Guardian, external said it has been "a good year" for the art prize and described Price as a "worthy winner".

Art critic Adrian Searle said: "Her use of footage from the fire itself never feels voyeuristic or meretricious. She does a great deal in 20 minutes. Its complexity has stayed with me."

'Seductive and immersive'

The Times, external called Price a "memorable winner" who produced a "compelling" piece of work, while The Daily Telegraph, external described her as "a genuinely interesting talent".

"This year's Turner Prize has gone to the artist who is in most respects the most difficult and the most on the cutting edge of now, and yet is at the same time the least controversial," wrote Mark Hudson.

The judges said they admired the "seductive and immersive" aspects of her minute film, which they said "reflects the ambition that has characterised her work in recent years".

Her use of various archival material created a "rhythmic and ritualistic experience", they said.

Had I, however, been asked whom I would want to win, I would have backed Price all the way. And so it was that I found myself letting out an involuntary cheer, midway through an evening committee meeting, on 3 December, when the results were announced, and Price took to the stage at Tate Britain to accept the award from actor-presenter Jude Law.

Born in Bradford in , Price has a solid academic CV comprising a BA, an MA, and a PhD, all in Fine Art, from the University of Oxford, the Royal College of Art, and the University of Leeds respectively. Her work uses high-definition digital video, mixing archival footage with live action, motion graphics, 3D computer animation and carefully edited and recomposed sound. The Woolworths Choir of is a compilation of footage drawn from various sources, put together with cleverly hidden links, one scene to the next, with explanatory texts appearing on screen PowerPoint style, and spoken narratives, cut up and reassembled by Price, so that they present something quite new and different from their original content. By the end of the 20 minutes, the viewer has been toured through the choir (quire) of a Gothic church, sung and danced with the Shangri-Las, and learnt how the devastating fire in a Manchester branch of Woolworths, which killed 10 people, broke out and spread.

Price confesses that she likes to make “provocative” works, and that this one was intentionally “loud, dramatic, and aggressive,” but also that, when she started out making it,