September 2010

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Mark Leckey, 44, was announced as winner of the Turner Prize on Monday evening and awarded the £25,000 prize by the singer Nick Cave.

As curator Michelle Cotton forecast in a blog for Apollo after the October announcement of the shortlist, 'The Turner Prize has a habit of falling into the hands of the artists whose careers are underwritten by a highly singular practice. If the tradition is upheld this year either Wilkes or Leckey will serve a handsome match.'

The success of the centrepiece of Leckey's exhibition, Cinema in the Round (2007), hinges on its ability to draw viewers into contemplating its web of cultural references. These include The Simpsons and Garfield cartoons and artists Philip Guston and Gilbert and George – to name just a few. On winning the prize Leckey said of his art, 'You don't need to be critically aware to get what I'm saying.'

More surprising than Leckey's victory (he was firm favourite with the bookies) are the comments he made during his acceptance speech. 'I kind of hate the relationship the press in Britain has towards art,' he said. 'I hate the way it's all Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin and Banksy. They expect spectacle and shock. Art is not like that. The art world I know is not like that; it's a whole other world.'

Unsurprisingly, his comments have been reported in the media as representing the token element of controversy or shock factor that we have routinely come to expect around the Turner Prize.

The Turner Prize exhibition is at Tate Britain until 18 January 2009.

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