Nicholas (Sir) Serota

Sir Nicholas Serota was for a period director of Whitechapel Art Gallery. During this time he was responsible for From Two Worlds, an exhibition of Black artists’ work that took place in 1986. Together with Gavin Jantjes, he wrote the Introduction to the exhibition’s catalogue.

As Director of Tate, Serota is Chairman of the Jury for the Turner Prize exhibitions held at Tate Britain.

The 1998 exhibition’s dates were 28 October 1998 - 10 January 1999. Along with Chris Ofili, Sam Taylor-Wood, and Cathy de Monchaux, Tacita Dean was shortlisted for the Turner Prize 1998. Alongside Serota, Director, Tate, and Chairman of the Jury, the jury consisted of Ann Gallagher, Exhibition Officer at the British Council; Fumio Nanjo, Curator and critic; Neil Tennant, Representative of the Patrons of New Art; and Marina Warner, Author and critic. The award was, in due course, made to Ofili, “for the inventiveness, exuberance, humour and technical richness of his painting, with its breadth of cultural reference, as revealed in his solo exhibition at Southampton City Art Gallery and in Sensation at the Royal Academy, London.” Ofili was the first Black British artist to win the Turner Prize. 

Dean was shortlisted for “her solo exhibition at the Frith Street Gallery and other presentations of her work in the UK and Europe, in which she demonstrated her versatility in the use of a wide range of media, including drawing and film, to create imaginative narratives of her chosen themes.” de Monchaux was shortlisted “for the growing complexity and richness of her sculpture and for her sensuous use of materials as displayed in her solo exhibition at the Whitechapel Art Gallery and her striking contribution to Wounds at the Moderna Museet, Stockholm.” Taylor-Wood was shortlisted “for her prize-winning presentation at the Venice Biennale and her solo exhibitions at the Kunsthalle, Zurich, and Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark, in which her acutely perceptive explorations of human relationships through photography and video.”

All the above quotes come from the introduction to the Turner Prize catalogue, which also contained introductions - both written and visual - to these artists’ work.

The 1999 exhibition’s dates were 20 October 1999 - 6 February 2000). Alongside Serota, Director, Tate, and Chairman of the Jury, the jury consisted of Bernard Bürgi, Director of Kunsthalle Zürich, Sasha Craddock, Writer and critic, Judith Nesbitt, then Head of Programming, Whitechapel Art Gallery and Alice Rawsthorn, Representative of the Patrons of New Art.

Along with Tracey Emin, Steve McQueen and Steven Pippin, Jane and Louise Wilson were shortlisted for the Turner Prize 1999. The award was, in due course, made to McQueen, for his exhibitions at the Institute of Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, and Kunsthalle, Zurich, which documented his original and uncompromising approach to film installations, including a major new piece, Drumroll, and his innovative presentation of work in other media.” McQueen was only the second Black British artist to win the Turner Prize. The first, Chris Ofili, was the previous year’s winner.

Emin was shortlisted for “her solo exhibitions at Lehmann Maupin, New York, and Sagach Exhibition Space, Tokyo, in which she exhibited works that showed a continuing vibrancy and flair for self-expression, a frank and often brutal honesty, and her versatility across a range of media.” Steven Pippin was shortlisted “for his exhibition Laundromat-Locomotion originating at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, in which he transformed twelve laundry machines into cameras in an ambitious experiment exploring the relationship between vision and motion through photography.” Jane and Louise Wilson were shortlisted for their exhibition Gamma at the Lisson Gallery, which documented the interiors of the decommissioned missile base at Greenham Common. The drama and intelligence of this work revealed the Wilsons’ increasingly sophisticated approach to photographic and video installation.”

 All the above quotes come from the introduction to the Turner Prize catalogue, which also contained introductions - both written and visual - to these artists’ work.

The 2004 exhibition’s dates were 20 October - 23 December 2004. Beside Serota, the other jury members of that year were Catherine David, Director of Witte de With Centre for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam, Adrian Searle, Art Critic, The Guardian, Robert Taylor, Representative of the Patrons of New Art, and David Thorp, Curator, Contemporary Projects, Henry Moore Foundation.

Along with Kutlug Ataman, Langlands & Bell, and Yinka Shonibare, Jeremy Deller was shortlisted for the Turner Prize 2004. The award was, in due course, made to Deller, for “Memory Bucket, a mixed media installation at Art Pace, San Antonio, documenting his travels through the state of Texas. This continued Deller’s personal investigation of the social and cultural make-up that defines different societies.”

Ataman was shortlisted for “his poignant and incisive video installations which describe the lives of individuals, creating intimate portraits while addressing broader social concerns, as shown at the Istanbul Biennial and other European venues.” Langlands & Bell were shortlisted “For The House of Osama bin Laden, an exhibition first shown at the Imperial War Museum, London, featuring photographs, digital animations and video works made following their visit to Afghanistan, which extended their interest in buildings, their histories and how we relate to them.” Shonibare was shortlisted “For his sculptural installations in which he continues to use African fabric to subvert conventional readings of cultural identity, as seen in his exhibition Double Dutch at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, and in his solo show at Stephen Friedman Gallery, London.”

(All quotes from the introduction to the Turner Prize catalogue, 2004, Tate Publishing, London.)

The accompanying catalogue contained introductions - both written and visual - to these artists’ work.

»  A Bizarre Form of Anthropology

Article relating to an exhibition, 1987

»  From Two Worlds - catalogue

Catalogue relating to an exhibition, 1986

»  From Two Worlds - press release

Press release relating to an exhibition, 1986

»  The Turner Prize 1999: An exhibition of work by the shortlisted artists

Brochure relating to an exhibition, 1999

»  Waldemar Januszczak | There is a world elsewhere

Review relating to an exhibition, 1986