Sheela Gowda of India shortlisted for UK’s Biggest Contemporary Art Prize, Artes Mundi

Bangalore artist Sheela Gowda, who uses unconventional materials like cow dung, ash and hair to make sculptures was shortlisted for UK’s biggest contemporary art prize, the 40000 pounds Artes Mundi.  Gowda is among seven artists chosen from over 750 nominations from around 90 countries.

Gowda started as a painter, but began making sculpture in response to events like Bombay riots and inequalities in India’s growth story. One of Gowda’s most well-known works is an ash sculpture titled Collateral which was made by burning incense on mesh frames to produce a landscape that looks ravaged by war. A piece she created for the 2009 Venice Biennale was made with hair collected from Tirupati.

Her sculptures and installations combines formal language of western sculptures with an exploration of how materials can make specific reference to social and cultural context of India.

Other Shortlisted artists

Miriam Backstrom (Sweden), Tania Bruguera (Cuba), Phil Collins (England), Teresa Margolles (Mexico), Darius Mikssys (Lithuania) and Apolonija Sustersic (Slovenia) are the other shortlisted artists for the fifth edition of Artes Mundi.

The shortlist was drawn up by Sofia Hernandez Chong Cuy, curator of contemporary art at Coleccion Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, New York, and Anders Kreuger, curator at M HKA in Antwerp, Belgium.

The British Artist in the list- Phil Collins

Vvisual artist Phil Collins from Britain who was also shortlisted for the award is a past Turner prize nominee.
His art that took him to unrest in cities from Baghdad to Belgrade includes using popular culture concepts ranging from TV to music videos.

His past projects included a seven hour disco-dance marathon made in Palestine and working with former reality TV participants in Turkey. Collins also created an indoor drive-in cinema with 15 secondhand cars in a gallery in Berlin, where he now lives.

Works of Shortlisted Artists to be showcased

The National Museum of Art in Wales will showcase for 14-weeks beginning 6 October 2012 works by the seven artists shortlisted for the prize sponsored by Bank of America Merrill Lynch as part of its Arts and Culture Programme, and publicly funded by the Arts Council of Wales and Cardiff Council.

An international judging panel will award the 40,000 pound prize midway through the exhibition in November 2012. 
All other shortlisted artists will receive a new award of 4000 pounds each. Also, a new partnership with Mostyn, the contemporary gallery in North Wales, will facilitate the shortlisted artists present a solo show in the 2013.

Artes Mundi

Artes Mundi - awarded every two years - was established in 2002. It supports contemporary visual artists from around the world who are still gaining international recognition.