Mark Leckey, Resident Poster. © Mark Leckey
Mark Leckey, the Liverpudlian film based artist, has won the 2008 Turner Prize at an award ceremony on the evening of December 1 2008, at Tate Britain.
Musician Nick Cave, the first singer to present the prize since Madonna shocked some by shouting expletives in 2001, awarded the prize to Leckey who beat off competition from three others to claim the £25,000 first prize.
He was selected for his solo exhibitions Industrial Light & Magic at Le Consortium, Dijon, and Resident at Kolnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, which combined sculpture, film, sound and performance. Leckey's Turner Prize exhibition entry centred around a film of himself delivering a lecture about his love of film.
Goshka Macuga, Runa Islam and Cathy Wilkes took away a consolatory £5,000 each as runners up for the prize, which is awarded to outstanding projects by UK based artists aged under 50.
As is now customary the announcement was made live on Channel 4 News, during a live broadcast from the prize-giving ceremony.
Speaking at the ceremony, an initially reticent Mark Leckey slowly made his way to the lectern and said: “I really am chuffed to bits… It’s a big thrill, it’s great to do something that has some kind of effect on British culture and is part of British culture. This is good – it’s a good thing.”
He later conceded that he didn’t expect the award and had just made the worst acceptance speech ever heard, but he thanked his mum, sister and all of his family before rounding on the critics for only liking middlebrow art.
Cathy Wilkes, I Give You All My Money - Photo © Tara Booth / Culture 24
The Turner Prize has built up a reputation for stirring debate about the nature of art and delivering sometimes outrageous winners. Last year Mark Wallinger, whose work included dressing up as a bear and wandering around a Berlin gallery, took the prize whilst exhibiting an exact replica of Brian Haw's anti-war protest in Parliament Square for the Turner exhibition.
Other recent winners include the now infamous No.227: The lights going on and off by Martin Creed whilst 2006 saw a rare triumph for painting when the German painter Tomma Abts was awarded first prize.
“For more than 20 years the Turner Prize has brought the work of successive generations of the British public,” said Tate Director Nicolas Serota. “It exists to promote discussion about contemporary art. And it succeeds.
Runa Islam, Be The First To See What You See As You See It. 2004, Courtesy Jay Jopling (London). © the artist
“Throughout its life the Turner Prize has alternated between years in which there has been high controversy and years in which the critics have said the show was dull, the prize should be retired, we should all go home. This year more than 60,000 people have seen the show here at Tate Britain. The comments room is full of many people’s opinions. The show is as strong as any I have seen.”
The prize was judged by an independent jury which this year included Jennifer Higgie, Editor of Frieze Magazine and the architect David Adjaye.
