12 May - Turners & Turnips

I'm well acquainted with that waste of time that is retroactive jealousy… I'm the one who googles ex lovers of my lovers and get worked up about stuff that no longers figures in his mind.

But this morning a colleague takes the martyr top spot… Her husband’s previous past long relationship (12 years?) was with an artist who’s on the Turner prize shortlist and let’s face it, she has 1 in 4 chance of winning - £25k thanks very much and all the publicity and commissions you can handle, plus she's already repped by a top gallerist - and so er… yes… she’ll be in the public eye a lot. It will hurt a lot to see her face everywhere (pretty in an exotic sort of way) and the fact that it had ended in ’01 is not much consolation. My colleague is also an artist but as we’re not working in a museum or a gallery or in the arts period, you can assume she’s a frustrated and not so practicing one and has a long way to go to make it to the Turner/Turnip. I try to make light of it, after all, who can name the winner from 2 or 3 years ago, but she's not having it. I tell her that she earns twice in a year what the prize is but she replies that the artist has been doing what she wants, not what she has to. Fair enough.

I hold my colleague's hand, I feel dreadful for her, but the reality is that her husband is happy for his ex, and for the nurturing role he played in her development and not looking back. At least that’s what I want to believe. And did I say he also taught or mentored one of the other female short-listed artist? He must be feeling pretty good in the talent scout department. Wonder if he gets invited to the ceremony/dinner and my colleague will have to go and smile congratulations? Then again she could use it as a PR exercise for herself, but no, it would probably be too a poisoned evening for her.