Art News

Bookmakers’ favorite Martin Boyce scoops art world’s most prestigious prize

GATESHEAD (REUTERS).- Bookmakers’ favourite Martin Boyce won the Turner Prize on Monday, claiming a 25,000 pound ($40,000) cheque and one of the art world’s most prestigious and controversial awards. The 44-year-old’s distinctive sculptural installations, which seek to create an urban landscape within the confines of the gallery space, topped a shortlist of works that some critics said was one of the best in the Turner’s 27-year history. “Some really good artists have won the Turner Prize and some really good artists have not won the Turner Prize,” Boyce said at a press conference afterwards. “The impact of this hasn’t even hit yet and I don’t know when or if it’s going to hit.” Brown paper “leaves” are strewn across the floor of his exhibition at the BALTIC gallery in Gateshead, northern England, which hosted the awards — only the second time they have been held outside London. “I guess it has something to do with hope a