Northern Art Prize Review

The Northern Art Prize 2008, held at Leeds Art Gallery from the 21^st November until the 1^st February 2009, celebrates and rewards contemporary visual artists based in the north of England. For the second year running four artists have been short listed from a list of twenty four and get to exhibit their work in a group show at Leeds Art Gallery. 

Having never been to the Northern Art Prize previously and not previously read any coverage I didn’t go in with too much expectation. I mean as far as art prizes go and the Turner Prize is the obvious one that springs to mind, they are not received with much positive reception, but as the Northern Art Prize is only in it’s second year, one can not judge too much.  On first entry I was instantly struck by the layout of the exhibition within the gallery. The four artists were spread throughout the whole gallery; three on the ground floor amongst the 18^th Century drawings and watercolour room and the fourth artist up stairs set amongst the Modern and Contemporary Art. But this isn’t all that odd is it. I mean unusual can still be unusual- interesting can’t it and as far as art prizes go I’ve never heard a bad word be said about the Northern Art Prize.  

On arrival I encountered Imogen Stidworthy’s exhibition on the ground floor. I was taken back by the sheer impact of the broken words, voices coming from a two metre curved free standing wall, which had the appearance of a giant speaker with a mans voice repeatedly trying to form words. But what made the exhibition was the set up of the space, how she’d used the space to create and interesting juxtaposition of sounds, words, noises and the written word. Whilst listening to the fragmented repetition of the part words your eyes were lowered to the floor to two screens with scrolling words such as ‘um,um,um,hmmm…’ and ‘this ones not in use…’ reading one screen was impossible as the effect of the words travelling across one screen disrupts the reading of the other screen. The logical sentences end up making no sense at all; their meaning getting lost it the spoken word. 

Next I encountered Richard Forster and Clare Charnley’s work, not without confusion may I add. Being lost in the amazement of what seemed to be photographs but on closer inspection of the small card at the side of the works, turned out to be pencil on paper. But it wasn’t the content of the drawings I was interested in: hazy depictions of flora and fauna and a dog led on a carpet; it was the sheer amazement that some one could take so much time, energy and perseverance into making a drawing look like a black and white photograph. I must have spent a good ten minutes itching closer to the drawing wanting to find some evidence of what would look like a pencil mark, some energetic expressive line, but non, pure restraint, painstakingly perfect. Lost in close up inspection of Forster’s work I came across photographs, actual photographs this time of two people in various positions almost looking like they were trying to make letters. Confused for a moment I didn’t realise I’d wandered into the work of Clare Charnley, just an instant, direct encounter. Are theytrying to make letters or construct a word? What was interesting about Charnley’s work is what relates back to Stidworthy’s work and that is the concept of struggling with language. This can be seen almost too literally in the work ‘Leave Blank’ which consists of altered immigration forms but with no visible words or instructions, commenting on the immigrants struggle with the English language, not understanding, being misunderstood and also in ‘The conversation of things’ which are sets of paired posters, making us question our subjective encounter to specific objects and our interpretation of objects around us. 

The final artist I saw was Paul Rooney. And his video work ‘Lost High Street’ a video piece of the artist sat at the back of an Edinburgh Tour Bus, filming the scenery around him as he travels around Edinburgh. In the background is Rooney’s Liverpoodlian accent recalling memories of place ands time. The struggle with recollection of memories, fragmented memories and the recollection of history that is bound to be flawed unless remembered correctly at every step along the way. 

Overall I was pleased at visiting the Northern Art prize and felt that a prize based on geographical positioning could work. Walking away with the exhibition catalogue was though a mistake, the selection panel based entirely in London. Make of that what you will.