Talent Show

TOKYO—Whether selecting Young British Artists, such as Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin, or the cross-dressing ceramist Grayson Perry, the ever-changing juries of the Turner Prize, inaugurated by London’s Tate Gallery in 1984, nail it year after year when it comes to anointing the U.K.’s best and brightest art stars. Now, as part of UK/Japan 2008—a yearlong series of events celebrating cultural and political ties between the two nations—Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum has joined with the Tate in organizing “History in the Making: A Retrospective of the Turner Prize.” The exhibition, running through July 13, contains the work of every winner since the prize’s inception. Death After Life, 1984, by 1986 prize recipients Gilbert & George and No Woman No Cry, 1998, by Chris Ofili, who won that year, are among the colorful, idiosyncratic compositions on view.

"Talent Show" originally appeared in the May 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's May 2008 Table of Contents.