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Review Nov 26 2008 « | »
The Marmite Prize for Painting 2008 - Review "Marmite", they say, "you either love it or hate it". Presumably this is the thinking behind the prize, and......

Jon Openshaw

"Marmite", they say, "you either love it or hate it". Presumably this is the thinking behind the prize, and indeed their press bumph describes it as 'a waywardly serious, and not entirely sardonic, alternative to - well you name it'. Sounds fairly polarising? I found myself falling on neither side of the emotional fence. This is not to say that it is an uninvolving exhibition, just a reasonably annoying concept that will be hard pushed to deliver love/hate to every viewer.

They had just finished the hanging as I arrived, and quite an unusual hanging it is too. Each new incarnation of this biennial is dedicated to a different artist, and this year's chosen one is the German painter Oliver Kossack, who shuns the more traditional 'salon hang' in favour of a ceiling alignment. And so all the contributions to the Marmite Prize 2008 are flush with the ceiling, which is striking, if a little unfortunate for the smaller pieces (the 2006 show was dedicated to Baselitz, and I can only imagine the effect hanging an exhibition of diverse artists with diverse motivations upside down had).

The collection is indeed very diverse, and admirably in keeping with the inclusive ethos that underpins this award. The organisers sent out details to hundreds of studio complexes and received a corresponding number of entries - over 300 in total, 48 of which are on display at Studio 1.1 (although all are included in the catalogue).

Displaying only a sixth of entries is a recipe for condensed quality, and generally speaking the work is striking. There are a couple of standouts in the jumble, the diversity of which works quite well in a pick-and-mix sort of way. Although some of the contributions suggested to me that this open was a little too open, they are generally back grounded in the tightly-packed cornice of more engaging pieces.

Seeing the theme through to its bitter end, the prize-winning artist will receive a French stockpot or 'marmite' for their troubles (2006's winner got a pot of Marmite itself). This leaves one wondering where the organisers can go in 2010, but luckily Marmite is a strong brand with many extensions. Their flavoured baked beans are particularly good.

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