Supermarket singer and painter of pop-culture crime scenes nominated for art’s Turner Prize

4 nominees up for art’s contentious Turner Prize

LONDON — A painter who depicts the scenes of famous tragedies and an artist who sings over supermarket loudspeakers are among candidates for the Turner Prize, Britain’s best-known and most controversial art award.

Organizers on Tuesday named four finalists for the 25,000-pound ($38,000) prize, which is awarded annually to a British artist under 50.

They include Susan Philipsz, 44, who has played recordings of herself singing pop songs in stairwells, supermarkets and under bridges.

Also nominated is Dexter Dalwood, 49, whose paintings include “Sharon Tate’s House” — scene of one of the notorious Manson Family murders — and depictions of the suicide sites of grunge rocker Kurt Cobain and David Kelly, the British government scientist caught up in a scandal over Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction.

The other finalists are Angela de la Cruz, 45, a painter who mangles her canvases, and London-based filmmaking duo the Otolith Group — Anjalika Sagar, 42, and Kodwo Eshun, 44.

The Turner Prize, named after 19th-century landscape painter J.M.W. Turner, was established in 1984 to honor young artists.

Past winners include “Brit Art” upstarts such as transvestite potter Grayson Perry, dung-daubing painter Chris Ofili and shark pickler Damien Hirst.

An exhibition of work by the finalists opens at the Tate Britain gallery on Oct. 4. The winner will be announced Dec. 6.

On the Net: www.tate.org.uk/britain/turnerprize