What it's like to be a winner...

We asked the winner of last year's prize, Paul Rooney a few impertinent questions! Not only did he indulge us, he did so over the Christmas holidays too.

Paul how did it feel to be included in the shortlist for the Northern Art Prize in 2008?
It was very flattering of course and it was a nice surprise. I was also delighted when I heard that my nominator was Greg Hobson, who is based in Yorkshire. I seem to have a lot more connections and opportunities in Yorkshire these days than anywhere else

Had you prepared a speech in case you won?
No I really hadn’t, as I admitted when I accepted the prize, I think I was half hoping the winner would not have to do a speech! I managed to blurt something out then forgot to thank Greg my nominator and Jackie and Sean my partner and son, so was reminded of that all night!

What was the first thing you did with your winnings?
Our cooker conked out that week so we went out and bought a new one, then got a new bathroom put in (we had been living with a horrible mint green suite with varnished pine panelling for ten years dreaming of a new bathroom all that time).

What do you think of prizes to reward artists?
I think ‘rewarding’ artists is not a bad thing, but I would say that. It’s particularly good to give some recognition for artists who are doing good work but who also need some support, those who are on the margins slightly, or who don’t necessarily make saleable work or command fortunes for commission fees etc. Prizes for artists, like academic qualifications, are always difficult though, because judges have to make very arbitrary decisions to pick the so called ‘best’ work and make an award. Because of that its good to get the main satisfaction from being nominated in the first place, and not get too big-headed or depressed about whether you are the one artist they do or don’t choose to ‘win’ the prize. For people with fragile egos like artists its best not to let any of it go to your head!

What has winning the Northern Art Prize meant for you in the last year? (do you get mobbed when you leave the house?)
When I used to give my name and address during phone calls I would always get asked if I was related to Wayne Rooney, now apparently Wayne is the one who gets asked if he is related to me. (Not really).

What music is currently inspiring you?
None.

What artwork has had the biggest impact on you in the last year?
I had a trip to the Istanbul Biennial on my winnings, all of it was very inspiring basically because there was a lot of good work from artists from all over the world, not just London and Berlin. Tamas St. Auby,  Chto Delat,  Danica Dakic,  Wendelien van Oldenborgh were some of many. I’ve recently made work about some inspiring people with Leeds connections: Jeff Nuttall, George Brecht, and Robert Filliou. Also read Nabokov’s ‘Pale Fire’, best novel I’ve encountered in years.

What's next for Paul Rooney in 2010?
Making a new work for Durham in June, showing a film at Harewood House in April (more Yorkshire connections, the piece was shot there too) and for Spacex, Exeter at the end of the year. May move house if we can sell ours!

Care to say who you think should win the 2009 prize?
 No!

Pavel Buchler in conversation or 'Making ALMOST nothing happen'...

 

Last night Maria Balshaw from the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester coaxed Pavel Buchler to share some of his views on his practice, prizes, democracy and opportunities for artists.

First up it was an entertaining talk, and not short of a quote or two. Pavel is a lecturer and tells a good story, I only wish I had decamped to the Victoria and Commercial Hotel after to hear more of his outspoken musings and anecdotes.

What on earth possessed you to nominate me?'

As director of the Whitworth, Maria is responsible for the nomination of Pavel for the Northern Art Prize, much to his consternation, Pavel is a most reluctant recipient of the honour of being shortlisted for the prize, being uncomfortable with competing against fellow artists, (including one of his best friends Ian Rawlinson). If anything artists are competing against history. 'What on earth possessed you to nominate me?' he quizzed Maria. Thankfully Maria gave Pavel food for thought, stressing that she did not care who actually wins, the maintenance of work and profile in the North of England, resulting in very strong work being exhibited together was important, and the prize was a vehicle for this to happen. Pavel did concede that the money would be extremely handy, (failure of his boiler being on his mind) that he was proud of the seal of critical approval from people he respected (Maria) and to show work in a good institution with people he respected was also a postive.

Another issue with the nature of competitive prizes is how the audience then receives the work, a prize pits people against each other, and skews the way in which people come to view the work. The more 'sensitive' viewer would filter out the 'competition' aspect.

Artists are good at squeezing the last drop of use out of things that are on the threshold of obsolescence'

Pavels describes his work as 'making almost nothing happen'  citing the job of the artist to keep their eyes open to things that are already in the world but pass by unnoticed, the stuff we have little inclination to pay notice to. The obsolete (where the useful function has become superseded) and the overlooked in our culture are what interest Pavel.

There should be fewer 'opportunities' for artists

Artists should concentrate on their professional practice, and not on filling in grant applications, or spending their time responding to commissions.

Provincial V Provincialism

Manchester is the only provincial city he knows (he lives there, and cannot speak for the rest of the UK) that does not suffer from from provincialism. What does he mean by this?

The Art Market

 Pavel is represented by three galleries in the UK and abroad. Perhaps for the sake of congenial relations we should caveat that he thinks very well of his own galleries, but sees galleries as having replaced the old system of collectors buying via the studio visit. He perceives their main function is to represent artists at Art Fairs which are critical to presenting work and attracting collectors affording them the chance to see un-curated work and get back in touch with the scene. All too many dealers pressurise their artists (who are selling well) to produce more work, more quickly and more of the same. 

Democracy is bad for art (when asked about the public vote for the prize, and it's influence upon the final judging) however it's good for not getting into trouble. Artists are privileged  in Western democratic society as they push boundaries of acceptibility, artistic licence is one to trespass on behalf of the rest of us, because it makes us feel good to tolerate and accommodate such trespasses.

First artist talks: Ian and Nick

Photograph by Pippa Hale (Two Burning Bushes 2003 not in the Exhibition) by Ian Crowe and Nick Rawlinson)

Last night a good crowd came along to hear Ian Crowe and Nick Rawlinson talk about their work together. They discussed how they have worked together collaboratively since the early 90's and shared a studio space in the early years, but until this year had their own individual practices. For them this created  a 'three' way competition, and decided to 'become one' early this year.

Nick now lives in Berlin, but they do see each other as much as previously with Nick coming back to Manchester at least once a month. Modern technology, which is so instrumental in their practice, has freed them to work to their strengths and more effectively, as geographic distance allows them to make more decisions autonomously on a project until they confront a 'problem' in their work, which requires conversation. Previously they may have 'micro decision made' together, and the work would have taken longer. Technological progress has also meant that they can create work on their laptops that two years ago would not have been possible, or would have been very expensive requiring outsourcing.

Nick and Ian were asked that given the themes of death, destruction and despair which permeates their work, were they pessimistic? The short answer was no, in fact that the nature of creating was optimistic. Ian also added that sometimes the only thing that could make him happy (presumably when he was down) would be art.

For those of you who have come across Art Transpennine Ian and Nick were instrumental in bringing it back in 2003, and on a considerably smaller budget than the launch of 1998. For just £530 they 'curated' the 'exhibition' (which included our director Pippa Hale) and enjoyed work from over 70 artists across 50 locations across the North. Ian was still wearing his canvas bag produced by one of the New York based artists.

The finale of the talks was a screening of 'The Fireworks' (not in the Northern Art Prize exhibition). Apparently at the original screening the audience applauded at the finale! We should see more of that!

Too busy chatting to look at the artworks!

IMG_0164, originally uploaded by Tom Callingham.

Last night was a wonderful event, we had well over 500 people attend the preview night and a good ole chin wag was had by all! City Inn our event supporter laid on a goodly amount of tasty refreshments, and the customary way of letting everyone know the event was over by stopping the flow did not result in an exodus to the door!

Did you come to the preview? If so what did you think?

If you click on this link you will find the Northern Art Prize photostream and perhaps you may see you own face in the crowd

A big thanks to Tom - a volunteer on the night from Leeds Met University.

Nearly there

Hats off to the gallery for putting together a fantastic looking exhibition. When I visited Sunday, I was slightly concerned for the well being of Tanja Pirsig Marshall (curator of exhibitions) and Andrew Cole (head technician) who seemed to have a small mountain to climb. But somehow they seem to have done it.

I got under the feet of the Pavel, Matt and Rachel today, asking them questions about how they felt about being nominated for the prize, (general consensus is that it's difficult to be in a competitive situation where there can only be one winner, but it's better that there is an exhibition before the prize is announced in January as it means people come with open minds, not to just focus on the art work/artist they have read about in the press)

None of the artists seem to relish the thought of being singled out for glory, but they enjoy the opportunity to be part of an exhibition at Leeds Art Gallery.

Prizes by their nature are interesting,  in a not so distant post, we will be asking Pippa Hale director of the Northern Art Prize why she set up the Northern Art Prize, and whether it is where she hoped it would be three years on. We will also be sharing insight from last year's winner Paul Rooney, about his year since winning and what it has meant for his professional practice.

Andy Dave & Kevin installing Pavel's work

Andy Dave & Kevin installing Pavel's work, originally uploaded by northernartprize.

They made quick work of that wall!

Rachel Goodyear

Rachel, originally uploaded by northernartprize.

Rachel in pensive mode, as she contemplates the forthcoming exhibition. This picture was taken minutes before a very precious cargo from a private collector in Essen arrived bearing the rest of her exhibition (a very small crate, causing some alarm that it may not have all arrived!) A decade or so ago Rachel studied at Leeds Metropolitan University, after graduating she moved back westwards across the Pennines and enjoyed the 'can do attitude' of the art scene in Manchester.

Rachel is represented by International 3 - an artist led gallery in Manchester and Pippy Houldsworth in London.

Nick and Ian

Nick Crowe and Ian Rawlinson installing 'Two Eternal Flames'

The gloves are on

Rachel Goodyear by Pippa Hale

Busy installing

Matt Stokes up a ladder by director Pippa Hale (note the lovely grey of the Lecture Theatre)

What are YOUR expectations of The Northern Art Prize?

Pictured above are Lidia and Tracey, Gallery assistants. As invigilators they often are asked about the exhibition, and sometimes are posed questions that give them pause for thought.

What questions do you have about the Northern Art Prize? We can't promise to answer them all, but why not either find us on Facebook and start a discussion going, or ask us on twitter?


We'd like to know more about you! Have you been to the Northern Art Prize before? If so what did you think of it? If not have you visited Leeds Art Gallery before, do you go to exhibitions? Do you enjoy contemporary art? Have you come across the work of the shortlisted artists before? What do you think of prizes? What do you feel like when you come to art galleries?

Did you know that you can meet the artists during the exhibition and ask them about their work? We will be present at the talks should you not be able to make it, and will be live tweeting via our twitter stream

Countdown to the private view and all is calm...

This last week we have been sneaking around Leeds Art Gallery with our cameras - taking care not to infringe any copyright of course (you'll have to excuse the blurry nature of our undercover snaps). The gallery technicians and curators are working around the clock to install the four shortlisted artist's work. They have very tight turn around times, having taken down two exhibitions in the last week (British Surrealism in Context and Hughie O'Donoghue- The Journey) they now set about creating video installation rooms within the galleries for Ian Crowe and Nick Rawlinson's Four Horsemen , and constructing huge bespoke screens (Matt Stokes), and waiting on international shipping (Rachel Goodyear)

This year with a slight break with previous convention you will find the exhibition completely on the first floor, and with the added interest of locating The Four Horsemen in the Ziff Gallery (see image above) and Matt Stokes ' These are the days' in the dramatically painted lecture theatre

Illuminating

Shortlisted artist Pavel Bϋchler meets Andrew Cole, the head technician at Leeds Art Gallery and together they puzzle over a solution to adapt the 1950's Leitz Prado slide projectors from Pavel's piece entitled 'Eclipse' to use modern halogen bulbs .

Getting to know you...

I met with Tanja Pirsig Marshall the Curator and Chair of Judges for this year's Northern Art Prize. Tanja is Curator of Exhibitions at Leeds Art Gallery, and this is the second year she has been involved in the selection and curating of the show.

Having no curatorial experience myself it was an illuminating conversation as to how to put a prize exhibition together, and as usual in the arts, resourcefulness and ingenuity are crucial to putting on any exhibition. But a competition adds it's own levels of complexities that give pause for thought. How many of us visit an exhibition and have a clue about the hard work, complex decisions, ego massaging, anxious waiting for or writing the copy for the programme, construction work, international shipping, negotiations with private collectors and galleries that happen behind the scenes? (That's just a small part of what I heard!)

In the next weeks we will be paying special attention to what it's like in Leeds Art Gallery in the run up to the private view and opening of the exhibition. We will meet some of the people who help to realise the exhibition, and also chat to previous winners and shortlisted artists to see where they are at in their careers, and what difference being nominated for a significant prize has made.

We will talk to the current shortlist nominees and ask them how they feel, why they choose the work they are presenting, and what interests they have outside the world of art!

What questions do you have? Feel free to leave a comment or two, and as long as they are not abusive we will do our best to find the right person to shed a light