Bare bottoms, piles of pennies, chastity belts and choo-choo trains are among the artworks by the four artists nominated for Britain's prestigious Turner Prize, to be revealed on Monday.
Image: Getty Images/C. Court
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The Turner Prize 2016 nominees
The prestigious Turner Prize is awarded every year to an artist under 50 living in Britain. These are the four nominated artists.
Image: Getty Images/C. Court
Contemplation in its many forms
Turner Prize-nominated artworks have been known to shock, like this huge installation by Anthea Hamilton entitled "Project for a Door." Past Turner provocateurs include Damien Hirst, who created installations of a shark, a sheep and a cow preserved in formaldehyde.
Image: Getty Images/C. Court
Pennies from heaven?
"Michael Dean starts his work with writing - which he then gives physical form," according to the Tate website. Those physical forms are often abstract, using materials such as steel, soil, and sheet metal, but also recognizable, such as the pennies in this work. The coins represent the poverty line set in the UK for a family of four - minus one penny.
Image: Getty Images/C. Court
All aboard
Josephine Pryde's "A Fun Ride to Nowhere" is a scaled Deutsche Bahn model locomotive with British Rail carriages trailing behind. The model is bejeweled with graffiti on its sides. In previous exhibitions in San Francisco, Berlin and Bristol, visitors were allowed to ride on it, but the artist decide to let the train stall in Britain.
Image: Getty Images/C. Court
Enigmatic poetry
Helen Marten's collage-like works are subtle and poetic, invoking countless associations and prompting viewers to look more closely to solve their riddle. This sculpture assembles not only steel and aluminum, but also leather, glass, feathers and concrete.
Image: Getty Images/C. Court
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Competing for Britain's annual contemporary art award, the Turner Prize, the four shortlisted artists, Michael Dean, Anthea Hamilton, Helen Martin and Josephine Pryde, have both galvanized and baffled viewers when their works went on show in September at the Tate Britain Museum in London.
Anthea Hamilton's installation of a massive male backside held open by a pair of hands is perhaps the most shocking of the works, along with her metal chastity belts suspended from the ceiling.
Josephine Pryde offered up a "Fun Ride to Nowhere" with her Deutsche Bahn model train.
Micheal Dean's work incorporated 20,436 pounds ($26,503) worth of penny coins - in direct reference to the UK's poverty line. That sum is the amount of money the British government has established as the minimum needed for a family of four to survive.
Helen Marten mixes and matches everyday objects - everything from cotton buds and marbles - to create her poetic, collage-like installations of sculptures, screen printing and writing.
The Turner Prize - which brings with it 25,000 pounds to the winner - has been awarded annually since 1984 to British artists under the age of 50. Runners-up receive 5,000 pounds each. It is named after painter William Turner.
