The Modern Relevance of The Turner Prize… And Where 2021 Went Wrong
Conceived to celebrate contemporary – and sometimes controversial – artists working with the same visionary spirit as painter JMW Turner, the Turner Prize has long bestowed us with sensationalist, headline clinching artworks. A number of its alumni are now household names: Tracey Emin, Steve McQueen and Anthony Gormley, for example. To question its relevance may feel somewhat unwarranted given the aforementioned, but I’d argue it’s a more complex matter. The 2021 Turner Prize can be characterised by firsts: the first shortlist composed entirely of collectives; the first work conceived outside of the gallery system; and the first time the exhibition has been held in the Midlands. The prize is certainly not shy of reinvention, but as exhibition attendance drops and media criticism grows, one must question whether the prize is reliant on its early reputation - a reputation that, despite all efforts, it now struggles to uphold.
In the heyday of the Turner Prize, many will recall Damien Hirst’s Mother and Child, a work featuring a cow and a calf, bisected and separately preserved in four glass-walled tanks filled with formaldehyde solution. The spectacle injected a healthy dose of debate to proceedings. Later, Tracey Emin’s My Bed, a replica of the artist’s unmade bed complete with scattered cigarettes, razors and underwear amongst other miscellania, caused a similar controversy. Thought-provoking, radical and unpredictable, the Turner Prize of this era stirred conversation whilst successfully representing the radicalisation of contemporary art to wider audiences. Visitor figures were at an all time high during Hirst and Emin’s period (they’ve dropped year on year ever since).
Fast forward to 2019 and Turner Prize nominees remain radical, albeit in a different way. The four shortlisted artists united to propose a collective win and equal share of the £40,000 award. They urged the judges against selecting a single winner, declaring:
“When there is already so much that divides people, we feel strongly motivated to use the occasion of the Turner Prize to make a collective statement in the name of commonality, multiplicity and solidarity in art as in society.”
Their request was accepted, marking the first time the monetary award had been split in such a way. The move was critically applauded. Whilst artists such as Hirst caused disruption with his artwork’s radical subject, the 2019 artists disrupted by overturning the very nature of prize culture. ‘Good for them!’, said The Guardian’s Adrian Searle, ‘it’s what artists are meant to do’. Indeed, in 2019, the decision felt relevant. In the midst of divisive socio-political turmoil brought about by the implementation of Brexit policies, the impetus to shift focus to a collective and united front was an apt statement. Of the exhibition, Frieze’s Juliet Jaques noted, ‘it reminds us that the roots of our current political crisis are broader and deeper than many pundits (or artists) seem to understand’. In 2019 at least, the prize’s social relevance feels difficult to dispute.
2021’s prize, reiterating 2019’s emphasis on community, exclusively shortlisted artist collectives. However, its reception has been somewhat sour. Following visits to the 2021 exhibition at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Rebecca Campbell-Johnson wrote, ‘it’s political, but it’s also terrible’, whilst Laura Cummings stated ‘it would be good to see the prize finally implode’. It’s worth considering that each of the shortlisted collectives possess a membership of individuals from traditionally marginalised communities. Black Obsidian Sound System are from the QTIBPOC community; Gentle/Radical is run by artists, community workers, performers, faith practitioners, writers and others; Project Art Works is neurodiverse. Winners, Array Collective, are the first Northern Irish recipients of the Turner Prize. Undoubtedly, this is a year of broadening inclusion. Alex Farquharson, Tate Director, writes in the exhibition catalogue that the prize is emblematic of ‘the solidarity and sense of community demonstrated across the UK in response to the pandemic’.
Nominees B.O.S.S, expressing a similar distaste to Cummings and Campbell-Johnson, had a thing or two to say regarding Farquharson’s emphasis on unity. Releasing a statement in response to the 2021 shortlist, they expressed their gratitude whilst simultaneously outlining the prize’s hypocrisy. In 2020, the same Tate that Farquharson states as championimg ‘solidarity’ and ‘community’, chose to make hundreds of redundancies in the midst of COVID-19, despite receiving millions of pounds in government support. The move was highly criticised - The Independent columnist Micha Frazer-Carroll declared ‘The Tate are showing that arts workers, especially low paid ones, are considered utterly disposable’. In light of this, B.O.S.S asserted that within the arts, marginalised and working class communities are ‘never sustainably cared for’. It seems that the Turner Prize’s ability to respond to the contemporary socio-political climate, a fact once celebrated, is now a damnation. And, in my opinion, rightly so. The diversity and unity momentarily pedalstalled is institutionally ignored and unsupported by The Tate. What once gave the prize soul and intention now feels baseless and contrived.
Now, let us return to the matter of relevance. Is the Turner Prize still relevant? Well, perhaps. It continues to be a subject of contentious discussion and drives some essential issues into that conversation. The inclusivity of 2021’s Prize, bringing together neurodivergent, black, queer communities, as well as those in professions aside from full-time artists, invites an audience beyond art world elites. However, it’s hard not to feel as if The Turner Prize is clutching onto a pre-established reputation grounded in radicalism, sensationalism and social protest. A reputation that, within the broader political context of this year’s Turner Prize, feels poignantly unfounded.
Written by Lucy Pratt
I'm Lucy, a 24 y/o Liberal Arts graduate in Bristol working in arts marketing and research. I’m particularly interested in access, and creating ways for all kinds of people from all kinds of communities to experience the arts. Fave colour: green; fave animal: frogs.
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