In a year in which the Turner Prize’s plate was already overflowing with controversy, Madonna stepped up to deliver some more. When presenting the 2001 award to Martin Creed’s installation The Lights Going On and Off, she yelled “motherf****r” during the ceremony’s live broadcast and provoked a further wave of simulated outrage and bemusement from global newscasters on the provocative silliness of the Turner Prize. And in many ways, her outburst, together with its resulting media frenzy, defined some of the factors by which the Turner Prize, established in 1984 and frequently characterized as the most prestigious award in art, has risen to the top of the art awards heap in its relatively young life—celebrity and controversy.
It is no secret that for a contemporary artist, the dividends imparted by simply exhibiting in the Turner Prize are huge. Simon Starling was largely unknown in Britain before his win in 2005, and the Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art has recently purchased part of his winning installation—an electric bicycle—for £42,000. Tracey Emin became a global household name from the controversy resulting from My Bed in 1999, and Damien Hirst’s burgeoning fame was helped along by his 1992 shortlist and his win in 1995 for the now-iconic Mother and Child, Divided.
The Turner Prize has been reliant on commercial sponsorship since its inception. Its highly (mutually-)beneficial relationship with independent television channel Channel 4 from 1991 to 2003 allowed the prize to double its award money to £20,000, and also ensured the prize media exposure in the form of documentaries and the afore-mentioned live-broadcasts. In 2004, Gordon’s Gin took over and further doubled the prize’s purse to £40,000. The prize has in turn raised the Tate gallery networks’ repute globally and its influence is now such that it reputedly plays a crucial role in defining and identifying the trends in contemporary art.
PHOTO CREDIT: Tate Photography, http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/turnerprize/history/creed.htm
Gallery buys Turner winner's bicycle
http://living.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=878&id=2367582005
Creed lights up Turner prize
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1698032.stm
Tate Britain Turner Prize History
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/turnerprize/history/
The Turner Prize: Everyone’s a Winner
http://www.tate.org.uk/magazine/issue2/tp_everywinner.htm