Connect four - the Turner Prize 2011 exhibition in Newcastle upon Tyne, Contemporary goes North and GoSee follows

Damien Hirst, Gilbert & George, Wolfgang Tillmanns – all of them winners of the Turner Prize. The art prize that launched in 1984 is considered the most important award for contemporary young artists in Great Britain, but was also awarded to far less illustrious names in the past.

A fine bunch of artists take part in this year's race for the prize. It is difficult to pick a favourite with the likes of George Shaw and Karla Black (Fine Art), Martin Boyce (Sculpture) and Hilary Lloyd (Video). The nominees made a name for themselves with their unusual exhibitions in galleries in London (Raven Row), Zurich (Eva Presenhuber) and Berlin (Capitain Petzel).

For the first time ever, their works were not presented in the London Tate in 2011, but the Baltic Museum in Newcastle, Northern England.

Reason enough for GoSee to make the trip to the small town, home to 300,000 citizens. A classy continental trip with a ferry on the high seas from Amsterdam. After all, the man who lent his name to the art prize and vanguard of the impressionists William Turner was also inspired by ships and the matter of 'water'.

The first week of the exhibition already saw long queues forming in front of the Baltic, which sits up high like a castle throne in Newcastle harbour, accessible via the Millennium Bridge designed by Sir Norman Foster – a pedestrian bridge that crosses the Tyne between Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead. The onslaught of visitors turned out to be quite the challenge for the museum's team – as we duly noticed.

Each contender for the prize was granted their own room. Scottish artist Martin Boyce is all about modern design and he develops mobiles, screen prints, reliefs and screens. The visitors can look forward to a 'walk through a narrative': the elaborately designed ceiling arches over an oversized mobile, the scattered and non-fixed autumn foliage is part of the installation and turns out to be folded crepe paper at closer inspection. Thanks to art-enthusiastic families with kids, the security team faces a real challenge with this one.

Rather more adventurous and no less exhausting (for the staff) is the room of Karla Black. The graduate of the famous Glasgow School of Art plays with paper, cellophane, plastic and coloured chalk powder. If one has passed the flaking layers of colour, one will stand face-to-face with an over-dimensional paper installation in the room, behind which the visitors tend to vanish completely. Alice in Wonderland would have cackled in delight. But once again we are met with warning stares by the security team – don't play with art.

Video artist Hilary Lloyd’s room installation on the other hand is of a more austere nature, in which the presentation of tools such as projectors and tripods plays an important role. Maybe it's the inviting window front, but the ample view over the English city exerts just as much fascination.

George Shaw's deserted milieu studies in oil were very fascinating indeed. Scenes of depravity within the heart of everyday life, nestled in the surroundings of a council estate in Coventry, where the painter grew up.

The winner of the Turner Prize will be announced on the 5th of December in the Baltic. We already chose our favourite . . .

The 'Turner Prize 2011' exhibition is open to visitors until the 8th of January in the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Newcastle. (www.balticmill.com).

Here you can find some more recommendations on GoSee for the lovely English working class and university town.