THE Turner Prize show opens today outside London for the first time in its 23-year history.
Featuring the work of the four shortlisted artists, including Nathan Coley from Scotland, the exhibition is being staged by the Liverpool Tate to mark the city's selection as European Capital of Culture 2008.
Work by Coley, together with his fell
ow shortlisted artists, Mark Wallinger, Zarina Bhimji and Mike Nelson, will be on display until the middle of January.
The exhibition includes a film of Wallinger dressed as a bear walking around an art gallery, a photo of automatic guns lined up against a wall by Bhimji and scaffolding with the words "There Will Be No Miracles Here" spelled out in light bulbs by Coley.
Nelson has also been shortlisted and is exhibiting his Amnesiac Shrine, which includes a maze of mirrors.
Laurence Sillars, the exhibitions and displays curator at Tate Liverpool, said: "It really is a curtain-raiser for the European Capital of Culture 2008, so it is an incredibly exciting time for us and an incredibly exciting time for the city."
"I think it is always difficult for the jury to find a winner for the Turner Prize. The works here are incredibly strong, all of them. It's a very rich and diverse exhibition, bringing together the best of contemporary practice."
When asked whether the Turner Prize shortlisted work on view was less controversial than in other years, Mr Sillars said: "I think people find work challenging in different ways.
"There are challenging ideas and political undercurrents in the work here that people will pick up on.
"There are two threshold sculptures - oak beams at the entrance and exit to Nathan Coley's space which people have to step over. I think there will be a few comments about that."
Artists Nelson and Wallinger have both been shortlisted for the Turner Prize in the past, Mr Sillars said.
Wallinger was nominated for the prize for his work State Britain, a meticulous reconstruction of more than 600 weather-beaten banners, flags and placards erected in Parliament Square by peace campaigner Brian Haw in protest against the Iraq war, but it is not on show at the exhibition.
Bhimji has been shortlisted for her photographs of Uganda, from where she was exiled under Idi Amin. Also included in the exhibition is a black Hackney cab with a video screen in the back, playing recorded interviews with people from Liverpool revealing their thoughts on contemporary art and the shortlisted work.
The film was recorded by Liverpool taxi drivers working with Tate Liverpool.
The artists were shortlisted for the work they created during the 12 months up to 8 May.
The winner of the Turner Prize 2007 will be announced on 3 December .
GROWING RECOGNITIONTHE work range of Scottish artist Nathan Coley has run from serving as "unofficial artist" at the Lockerbie bombing trial to rendering all 286 of Edinburgh's churches and mosques in scale models made of cardboard.
His art has won him growing prominence in Scotland and overseas.
Speaking after he made the Turner shortlist in May, Coley said he was undeterred by the strength of competition.
"I'm excited," he said. "I think the shortlist of artists is really good, I think all four of us are working internationally and dealing with serious global ideas and that's interesting. It's going to be a good show."
Coley is cited for his solo show of last summer, the neon sign with the declaration, "There Will Be No Miracles Here", at Mount Stuart on the Isle of Bute. His work in a British Council exhibition in Belgrade, which included a reproduction of the Lockerbie trial witness box, was also mentioned.
He said he was delighted to get the nomination, which came "out of the blue".
"It's prestigious and I think people look to it as a barometer of what's going on."
His earlier work includes a photograph of himself cross-legged on a bench at Holyrood in front of the empty parliament site, titled Waiting for the Scottish Parliament. The same wry humour comes across in other work.
Based in Glasgow, he had a solo festival show at the Doggerfisher Gallery in Edinburgh this summer and a massive light installation of his was on show in St Andrew Square as part of the Six Cities Design Festival.
The full article contains 730 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
