Turner Prize 1991 poster
Anish Kapoor with his 1991 Turner Prize installation
Shortlist
- Ian Davenport – nominated
- Anish Kapoor – winner
- Fiona Rae – nominated
- Rachel Whiteread – nominated
Turner Prize focuses on a younger generation
The Turner Prize returned with a carefully redefined format, an improved exhibition and a revitalised promotional campaign enhanced by the enthusiastic backing of its new sponsor Channel 4. The number of artists shortlisted was restricted to four with an age limit of fifty and it was now judged on ‘an outstanding exhibition or presentation’ during the preceding year. The nomination of three artists under thirty immediately put the emphasis on a younger generation, which concerned some critics but undeniably energised the Prize.
Jury
- Maria Corral, Director, Reina Sofia Centre, Madrid
- Penny Govett, representative of the Patrons of New Art
- Andrew Graham-Dixon, art critic, The Independent
- Norman Rosenthal, Exhibitions Secretary, Royal Academy of Arts
- Adrian Ward-Jackson, Chairman, Contemporary Art Society
- Nicholas Serota, Director, Tate Gallery
Turner Prize 1991 in quotes
I … recall a collective sigh of relief when Serota suggested that we need not consider youth a drawback, that we need not play safe in our choices.
Andrew Graham-Dixon, juror, the Independent, January 1991
The judges’ flamboyant gesture on behalf of youth will certainly have its televisual appeal … but … the 1991 Turner Prize will go down as a massive institutional snub to a chapter in British art, the generation of artists contemporary with Kapoor.
David Cohen, the Times Saturday Review, November 1991
