(Above) Becky Beasley, Figure (Part III) (2008). Selenium toned matt gelatin silver print, green acrylic glass. © the artist, beckybeasley.com
The Max Mara Art Prize for Women, the Whitechapel Gallery's biannual accolade for promising female UK artists, has announced soup connoisseur Becky Beasley, surveyor of shame Andrea Büttner and sticky tape moulder Elizabeth Price as the finalists for 2010.
The trio will compete for a six-month residency in Italy, followed by an exhibition at the East London gallery in early 2011, succeeding previous winners Hannah Rickards and Margaret Salmon.
All three are noted for their unconventional, medium-spanning styles – Portsmouth-born Beasley, for one, is known for her minimalist, weird sculptures and found photos altered to eerie effect, frequently inspired by alternative literature and figures such as cult Canadian pianist Glenn Gould.
Andrea Büttner, Nought to Sixty (2008). Installation view. © the artist and Hollybush Gardens, London. Photo: Marcus Leith, ica.org.uk
At the end of last year Beasley's second solo exhibition at her host gallery, London's Laura Bartlett, gave theatrical presentation to the choice between liver dumpling and fried crepe soup, using the classic quandary for German diners to allude to wider themes of decision and fate.
Berlin woodcutter and glasspainter Büttner is also concerned by dilemmas, expressing her fears under the weight of gallery expectations ("I want to let the work fall down" and "I don't know what to do", read a couple of her slogans, holding up "a mirror to a contemporary culture of shamelessness".)
Price's unusual structures amount to strangely compelling displays of extreme compulsiveness, evolving with painstaking detail between each appearance they make.
Elizabeth Price, Welcome to the New, Ruined Institute (2007). © the artist. Photo: sitegallery.org
She works on instructions and wills specified by long-departed art fans – most memorably, perhaps, she offered a huge ball of sticky tape, Boulder, at the Jerwood Space in 2004, growing in size for every subsequent exhibition it rolled into.
"This incredible art prize dedicated to women is tapping into the immense creative talent of female artists working in Britain today," said Whitechapel Director Iwona Blazwick, who is chairing a judging panel of artist Fiona Banner, gallerist Alison Jacques, collector Valerie Napoleone and critic Polly Staple.
"The shortlist of three artists demonstrates the possibilities of art at the moment and a snapshot of contemporary art now."
The winner will be announced at the gallery on March 23 2010.
