The five artists short-listed for next year's Glen Dimplex Artist's Award, worth £15,000, were announced yesterday. They are Cork-born mixed media artist Maud Cotter; American sculptor Petah Coyne; Dublin-born film and photographic artist Clare Langan; and artistic collaborators David Phillips from Memphis, Tennessee, and Paul Rowley from Dublin, who work with film, photography and video.
Coming hot on the heels of the presentation of Britain's Turner Prize to film and video artist Steve McQueen, the emphasis on film and video in the shortlist reflects a heightened interest in these media in the art world in general.
Maud Cotter first won acclaim as an innovative stained glass artist, but since the early 1990s she has explored a wide range of sculptural materials, including cardboard and latex.
Petah Coyne's elaborately detailed works, made chiefly from intricately woven horsehair, sprang from two divergent influences, her Catholic background and her passionate interest in Japanese culture and literature.
Clare Langan has established herself as a photographic artist with a strikingly original vision. The unique look of her photographs is achieved by her use of hand-made filters and her fondness for extreme locations. David Phillips and Paul Rowley, who are based in San Francisco, use film, video and photography. Their installations combine original and appropriated images to suggest disturbing stories of altered childhood memories.
