The Not So Controversial Turner Prize 2009 Winner

The anticipated Turner Prize was awarded this week in the UK. For those of you not quite familiar with the prize, the Turner Prize for visual arts is a yearly award presented to a visual artist (it has been given to painters in the past, but it is usually associated with visual media) under the age of 50. The award is presented to the best piece of art work exhibited at the Tate Gallery during its annual Turner Prize exhibit.

Named after the controversial romantic landscape painter J.M.W. Turner, the prize has often lived up to it's infamous namesake. Although widely recognized as one of the greatest masters if British watercolor, Turner's provocative paintings fused elements of humanism and it's vulnerable and vulgar sublimity in natural world.

In Hannibal Crossing the Alps, this distinctive juxtaposition is clearly intended:



With this in mind it is no wonder that work as complex and provocative like the emotional sculptures (the one below is called "Virgin Mother") of Damien Hirst who was a winner in 1995 are just the type of work that Turner Prize winners often exhibit.


Hirst gained notoriety with his now equally infamous formaldehyde Shark that was exhibited at the Met a few years back, which was the winning piece in Hirst's repertoire.



Equally provocative was Tracy Emin's "My Bed" piece, exhibited at the Tate gallery in 1999 and also on the short list for the Turner. The work gained much media noteriety due to the presence of the bodily secretions in the bedsheets as well as items with other objects equally provocative ( undewear with menstrual blood, used condoms, etc). Although it did not win the prize it is representative of work constantly evaluated as a potential winner.




This year's winner is Richard Wright, who won the Prize with a gold fresco presented at the Turner exhibit as one of the official entries vying for the prize. The Guardian has published this article of the winner and his winning piece. The golden leaf fresco below was this year's winner. Sometimes the classics never runs out of style.