Turner Prize Winning Artist Mark Leckey Visits Art Department

November 2009

On Wednesday 18th November Mark Leckey - winner of the prestigious Turner Prize 2008 came to Grey Coat Art Department to give a talk about his work.  We had a great turn out with over 30 GCSE and A level students attending. Mark was very down to earth and shared his experiences of how he became interested in Art.  He also showed the students some of his video pieces which featured in the Turner Prize exhibition. Below is some information from the Tate Gallery website about the Turner Prize.

"The Turner Prize is a contemporary art award that was set up in 1984 to celebrate new developments in contemporary art. The prize is awarded each year to 'a British artist under fifty for an outstanding exhibition or other presentation of their work in the twelve months preceding'. 

Nominations are invited each year, and the prize is judged by an independent jury that changes annually. The four shortlisted artists present works in a show normally held at Tate Britain before the winner is announced in December. Artists are not judged on their show at Tate. The decision is based on the work they were nominated for.

Over the recent decades the Turner Prize has played a significant role in provoking debate about visual art and the growing public interest in contemporary British art in particular, and has become widely recognised as one of the most important and prestigious awards for the visual arts in Europe.

http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/turnerprize/turnerprize2008/prize/whatis.shtm