HOWZAT

In 2001, it sparked a furore after Martin Creed won with a bare room containing a light that flickered on and off, and in 1998, Chris Ofili divided opinion after taking the prize for applying elephant dung to a Virgin Mary figure.

Critics say that art which relies on shock tactics and thin ideas is tired, with barriers already broken by Marcel Duchamp’s urinal as long ago as 1917. They lament the exclusion of talented painters or sculptors with skill.

David Lee, editor of the satirical art magazine The Jackdaw, was less than impressed by the latest shortlist. “These are the scrapings of the scrapings of the barrel,” he said.

“This is non-descript work that’s virtually indistinguishable from student work.”

But Stephen Deuchar, director of Tate Britain and chairman of the Turner Prize jury, defended the choice: “This is a very strong list. It’s quite searching. They’re works which demand the viewer’s close attention.

“The public is now not frightened by art that requires some investigation and whose meaning is not instantly clear.”

He said that Wilkes was nominated for her current show at the Milton Keynes Gallery, which includes her Non-Verbal installation of a television, a baby buggy, a jar of apricot preserve, as well as a shop mannequin with a bowl of left-over bits of dried porridge at its feet.

The Tate explained it was influenced by Walter Sickert’s 1927 painting, Lazarus Breaks His Fast: “The porridge is the first meal after resurrection.”

Dr Deuchar said: “Cathy’s work is not always going to be comfortable for the viewer. It’s like fragments of episodes in her life that we are not quite sure about. At some level, she’s inviting us to share issues that are deeply personal, almost too personal.”

“One of the strongest visual features is the shop mannequin which has several attachments around her head. It is almost as if the mind is burdened with too many ideas.”

He summarised Leckey’s art as “hugely invigorating”, Islam’s as “exquisite” and Macuga as “not just an artist but an orchestrator”.

An exhibition by the shortlisted artists, which each year attracts up to 100,000 visitors, will be staged at Tate Britain from October 7. The winner will be announced on December 1.

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