Enrico David

Enrico David has been nominated for his solo exhibitions How Do You Love Dzzzzt By Mammy? at the Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Basel, and Bulbous Marauder at the Seattle Art Museum. Enrico David is a contemporary surrealist who creates rich and profoundly original painting, drawing and sculpture which are disconcerting, confrontational and beautiful.

Roger Hiorns

For his solo exhibitions Seizure, Artangel commission, Harper Road, London and at Corvi Mora, London. Hiorns creates arresting sculpture and installation combining unusual materials. His exploration of chemical processes took spectacular effect in Seizure, in which a derelict flat in South London was transformed into a magical cave of blue crystals.

Lucy Skaer

For her solo exhibition at the Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh and A Boat Used as a Vessel at the Kunsthalle Basel. Skaer makes drawings, sculptures and films which often take found photographic sources as their starting point. Rooted in reality, yet subjected to a process of elaborate transformation, Skaer's images hover in the space between recognition and ambiguity, figuration and abstraction.

Richard Wright

For the work he exhibited in the 55th Carnegie International, Pittsburgh and his exhibition at the Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh. Wright creates subtle and exquisite wall paintings that respond directly to the architecture in which they are created. Often awkwardly placed in discreet locations, they combine graphic imagery and intricate patterning from sources as varied as Medieval painting, graphics and typography.

The Turner Prize award is £40,000 with £25,000 going to the winner and £5,000 each for the other shortlisted artists. The Prize, established in 1984, is awarded to a British artist under fifty for an outstanding exhibition or other presentation of their work in the twelve months preceding 21 April 2009. It is intended to promote public discussion of new developments in contemporary British art and is widely recognised as one of the most important and prestigious awards for the visual arts in Europe.

Work by the shortlisted artists will be shown in an exhibition at Tate Britain opening on 7 October 2009. The winner will be announced at Tate Britain on 7 December 2009 during a live broadcast by Channel 4.

Image Credits:

Image 1:

Enrico David, Bulbous Marauder 2008, Gouache on paper, 116 x 83 cm, Courtesy Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Köln/Berlin

Enrico David, How Do You Love Dzzzzt by Mammy?, Installation view Museum für, Gegenwartskunst Basel, 2009, Courtesy Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Köln/Berlin

Image 2 (Slide Show):

Roger Hiorns, Seizure 2008, A Jerwood/Artangel Commission, Harper Road, London, Courtesy Corvi-Mora, London

Roger Hiorns, Vauxhall 2003, Steel, fire, Installation at Tate Britain, London 2003, Photo credit: Tate Photography, David Lambert/Rod Tidman, Copyright the artist and Tate, Image courtesy Corvi-Mora, London

Image 3 (Slide Show):

Lucy Skaer, Black Alphabet 2008, 26 dust coal sculptures, Each 11.5 x 136 cm, Originally commissioned by Chisenhale Gallery, 2008, Courtesy of the artist and doggerfisher, Edinburgh, Photography credit: Serge Hasenböhler

Lucy Skaer, Solid Ground – Liquid to Solid in 85 years 2006, Coloured plaster - 10 parts Approx 1.5 m x 1.5 m x 80 cm, Courtesy of the artist and doggerfisher, Edinburgh, Photography credit: Serge Hasenböhler

Image 4 (Slide Show):

Richard Wright, Untitled 2005, Gouache and enamel on paper, 74 x 100 cm, Courtesy of Gagosian Gallery, London/New York, The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow, and BQ, Berlin

Richard Wright, No Title 2007, Gold leaf on window, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, Courtesy of Gagosian Gallery, London/New York, The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow, and BQ, Berlin