Turner Prize Retrospective

The Turner Prize is Britain’s most well known and controversial annual art award, started to draw attention to contemporary art, it seems to specialize in nominating artists whose work will leave most members of the public scratching their heads. The prize which is organized by the Tate Gallery was first awarded in 1984 and is a competition for British visual artists under 50.

The award generates a lot of publicity for the winner and the more outrageous the work on show the more the media will hype it up. Famous nominees in the last few years have included Damien Hirst with his cow and calf in formaldehyde, Tracey Emin and her unmade bed and 1998 winner Chris Ofili with his elephant dung on canvas.

Tate Britain in central London has just opened Turner Prize: A Retrospective, an exhibition looking at the history of the prize with works on show by all the winning artists since 1984. It runs until 6 January 2008 and tickets cost £11. Tate Britain is open daily from 10am-5.50pm and admission to the museum’s main galleries is free. Its located on Millbank, about half a mile south of the Houses of Parliament. Map