lt’s kept open to allow people to fabricate whatever they want.
‘My mum and dad don‘t have an art background, so their reaction is. “why can’t you do a nice landscape?” and I say. “don’t ask me what I’m doing, play with it on your own, I don’t want to show you how to play with it.”
‘l’m interested in “what can I make of the work?” What’s the essence of a painting? You can’t have made the painting without thinking, so let’s go round the painting and keep the thinking. Cut the painting out and put the thinking into the world. lt’sjust ways of putting art into the world that are not about framing it.
‘lt’s ironic — you move away from figuration because you don’t want people to concentrate on the image. you want them to think for themselves. but as you move into other areas people start thinking more about the artist.’
Gordon freely admits that this personal attention is something he could do without. He’s still smarting from a recent Turner Prize feature in a broadsheet newspaper which he says moulded the facts to fit a preconceived image of Gordon as a hardman proletarian artist. However. it’s inevitable that the more inventive installations the ever-prolific Gordon unleashes, the more the media and the viewing public will want to know about his 24-hour psyche.
There’s a partial unveiling in Ewan Morrison’s pithy [Ex-S documentary 24 Hour Psycho. in which Gordon spends a great deal of time eluding interrogation as he hangs out in Glasgow and jets around Europe before finally revealing aspects of his muse.
Gordon’s role is akin to that other increasingly validated creative force of the 90s, the DJ/remixer. With such an immense cultural history to plunder. the reinterpretation of
Douglas Gordon (9.2a...)
entitled Confessions Of A Justified Sinner.
r
(2-1 odds)
Cragle Horsfield Work-
L -
Place your bets: the Turner Prize shortlist Gary Hume (7-4 odds)
Hume first grabbed attention with a series of paintings of hospital doors. and has gone on to portray catwalk icon Kate Moss and DJ Tony Blackburn. Old masters also get the occasional look in — his version ofa Renaissance portrait by Petrus Christus. painted in household high-colour gloss. featured in this year’s British Art Show in Edinburgh. Another one-time student at Goldsmiths. 34-year-old Hume is often seen as part of the bright young band of artists. the so-called Brit Pack. He also took part earlier this year in Brilliant! a highly-hyped show in Minneapolis of young
Eight years after graduating from Glasgow School of Art. Douglas Gordon is. at 29 years old. Scotland’s big whiz on the contemporary art scene. Since showing 24 Hour Psycho in his first solo show at Glasgow‘s Tramway in 1993, he has gone on to become one of the art school’s most celebrated graduates from the 1980s — and he continues to live in Glasgow. He was nominated for the Turner Prize for his video installation Hysterical — which appeared earlier this year in Edinburgh for the British Art Show — and his contribution to Spellbound. a show looking at art and film, at London’s Hayward Gallery. Damien Hirst. Peter Greenaway and Eduardo Paolozzi were his fellow-exhibitors. For the Turner Prize exhibition at the Tate. Gordon is showing slowed-down footage from Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde.
Graigie Horsfield
At 46, Horsfield is the oldest of this I year’s all-male shortlist line-up (there have been criticisms about male ' domination from many quarters). A graduate of St Martin’s College of Art. London. he took his first . photographs in the late 60s after
feeling dissatisfied with painting. He spent the 70s in Poland and now lives in London’s East End. Recording the environment around him. Horsfield photographs the landscape. still lifes and nudes. He has been shortlisted for his continuing development of his
existing art forms (in Gordon’s case. the likes of medical film footage and. for his Turner Prize exhibition piece. the film of Doctor Jekyll And Mr Hyde) has become artistic expression in its own right.
‘lt’s the synthesis of elements of culture.’ offers Gordon. ‘ — although you can’t really call the people who do that synthesizers! But it’s like what the K Foundation were doing with “Whitney Joins The JAMMS". It‘s ironic that they’ve come out in opposition to everything they led me towards when l was listening to them at college.‘
So does Gordon — like the K Foundation who awarded 1993 Turner Prize winner Rachel
British artists’ work.
Patterson enjoys words. At an exhibition at London’s Lisson Gallery he installed the masts and sails from yachts with the names Raymond Chandler. Currer Bell (Charlotte Bronté’s pen name) and Laurence Sterne written across the sails. At 29. he is joint youngest — with Gordon — in this year’s line-up. He’s also a graduate of Goldsmith’s College. regarded by many as a hotbed of artistic " talent. For the Turner Prize he’s showing a new version of London’s tube map. Calling it ‘The Great Bear’. he has changed the original station names. The Northern Line is one long list of film .4. stars: there’s Tony Curtis. Sid James and Grace : ‘ Kelly; while Green Park has transformed in name Simon Patterson to that of Gary Lineker. (Susanna Beaumont) /
Simon Patterson (94 was)
DOUGLAS GORDON FEATURE
Douglas Gordon: Contosslons 0! A Justltlod Slnnat
Whiteread double the prize money to accept their title of Worst Artist Of The Year - ever conclude that modern art is rubbish?
‘If I ever thought I was really bullshitting, then I’d probably stop.’ he says in deadly earnest. On this occasion anyway. we can take him on his tattoo’s word.
The lit-S doemnentaiy 24-Hour Psycho is on Mon I8 Nov, 10.50pm, BBC 1 . The Turner Prize winner is announced on Thurs 28 Nov. 9pm, Channel 4. There will be a Turner Prize discussion at Transmission Gallery, Glasgow; Sat 23 Nov, 3pm. An exhibition about the Turner Prize nominees is at Transmission, Tue l9—Sat
23 Not:
Cragle Horsfield
The List l5-28 Nov l99619