The four artists short-listed for this year's £15,000 Glen Dimplex Artist's Award have been named. They are Irish artists Orla Barry and Susan MacWilliam, Hiroshi Sugimoto from Japan, and British artist Catherine Yass. They were selected from more than 70 nominees by a six-person jury chaired by Irish Museum of Modern Art curator Ms Brenda McParland.
Though 80 per cent of the nominated artists were Irish, only two Irish artists made it to the shortlist of four.
Wexford-born Orla Barry lives and works in Brussels. Her work takes the form of diaries, CDs and photographs.
Susan MacWilliam, from Belfast, works in a variety of media and is interested in the power of theatrical illusion. Her video, The Last Person, exhibited in Limerick last year, was inspired by the trial of a medium, Helen Duncan, who was the last person prosecuted under the British Witchcraft Act.
Hiroshi Sugimoto, born in Tokyo, is both the oldest and the most established artist on the shortlist. He is known for his beautiful black-and-white photographs.
Londoner Catherine Yass works with photography and video in explorations of the architectural environment. During last year's Belfast Festival, she exhibited images of toilets and kitchens, prominently positioned in the foyer of the Waterfront Hall. Her idea was that these normally hidden parts of the building had spilled out into public view. In her exhibition, Invisible City, Tokyo was visible purely in terms of its electric light.
The work of all four features in an exhibition opening at the IMMA on May 28th, in advance of the presentation of the award to the overall winner. An additional, non-monetary award, for a sustained contribution to the visual arts, will also be made.
Besides Ms McParland, this year's jury comprises Dr Margaret Downes, chairwoman of BUPA Ireland; Dr Paula Murphy, a UCD art history lecturer and IMMA board member; Mr Andrew Nairne, director of Dundee Contemporary Arts; Mr Hugh Mulholland, director of Belfast's Ormeau Baths Gallery and Ms Catherine de Zegher, director of Kanaal Art Foundation, Belgium.
It is striking that no artist resident in the South is included on the shortlist. Another feature is the almost total dominance of photography and video, which is likely to reinforce the perception that the award is biased against painting and sculpture.
