Thinking Is Making: Objects in Space : The Mark Tanner Sculpture Award

The Mark Tanner Sculpture Award (MTSA) marks its 20th anniversary in 2023, having established itself as the most significant prize for emerging sculptors in the UK over the past two decades.

Thinking is Making: Objects in a Space, the second volume in the MTSA series, is a fully illustrated book that brings together a variety of texts to appraise the MTSA in the broader context of contemporary sculptural practice, with a particular focus on the role of the object and its maker.

The book’s introduction, written by MTSA co-founder and Standpoint Studios director Michael Taylor, narrates the award’s origins and development, and explores its connection to Standpoint. Central to both the award and the studios is their support for the careers of emerging artists and how the very idea of “making” has become a pivotal point of reference.

An in-depth essay by art historian and curator Dr Jon Wood explores the diverse field of sculpture-making in Britain today and considers how sculpture distinguishes itself from the world of other objects.

In addition, the book includes an illustrated conversation between the award’s winners of the past 10 years – Lee Holden, Rosie Edwards, Dean Kenning, Olivia Bax, Anna Reading, Frances Richardson, Beth Collar, Megan Broadmeadow, Kate Lyddon and Iain Hales – providing an insight into their diverse sculptural practices, their development as artists, and what they define as the space within which they operate as sculptors.

It also features a roundtable discussion between internationally renowned former MTSA guest judges Lisa Le Feuvre, Phyllida Barlow, Hew Locke and Mike Nelson. These leading figures of the contemporary sculpture scene discuss issues facing sculptors today and speculate on the future of the MTSA as it moves into its third decade.

Thinking is Making: Objects in a Space presents an overview of the contemporary British sculpture scene and will appeal not only to sculpture lovers and the many avid followers of the MTSA, but also to those interested in the wider cultural scene and in innovative practices in the field of contemporary sculpture.

Michael Taylor is co-founder and director of the MTSA, as well as Standpoint Studios, an artist-run studio and gallery, and Paupers Press, a fine-art print and publishing studio.

Alongside his own practice as an artist, Taylor taught for many years at Central Saint Martins, Norwich University of the Arts and Camberwell College of Arts. In 1986, he established Paupers Press and has since worked with many leading and emerging contemporary artists, such as Paula Rego, Tracey Emin, Rachel Whiteread, Grayson Perry and Chris Ofili. In 2012, he published The Mechanical Hand: Artists’ Projects at Paupers Press to celebrate the studio’s 25th anniversary.

Emma Benyon is a contemporary art curator and the MTSA’s Assistant Director, having joined Standpoint in 2017 and led the development of the award since. Benyon curates the exhibition and education programme at Standpoint, which focuses on supporting emerging and mid-career artists to develop and present new work and ideas. She is also the Associate Curator at Cross Lane Projects, supporting the gallery’s programmes in Kendal, Cumbria and Vestry St, London.

Over the past 10 years, Benyon has curated numerous other exhibitions for international galleries, museums and arts festivals including: Alexander Duncan: blow in, Aldama Fabre Gallery, Bilbao, Spain (2017); George Barber: Fences Make Senses, Waterside Contemporary (2015); Art Brussels: Oreet Ashery, Mathilde ter Heijne, Waterside Contemporary (2015); Art International Istanbul: Nikita Kadan, Karen Mirza and Brad Butler, Waterside Contemporary (2015); and Making Sense, Fallout Factory, Liverpool (2014).