Art OBE's

I'm sure you've seen the big names in showbiz awarded knighthoods and whatnot in the Queen's Birthday Honours List yesterday. I tend to look for awards for services to visual art. Not a lot this year and not really good news for visual art. Conceptual artist turned film-maker Sam Taylor-Wood got an OBE. So did Gillian Wearing, who won the Turner Prize in 1997. Above is Gillian's Rowena (2008) painted for her Los Angeles show by Jim Burns. Gillian found the models, took the photos and Photoshopped them in the style of Alberto Vargas; then Jim painted them with acrylics (CLICK). Gillian gave the Yanks what she thought they wanted: cheesecake. A step up from her Turner effort.