Turner Prize 2001: Martin Creed

The Turner Prize 2001 was awarded to Martin Creed, it was announced at Tate Britain on Sunday 9th December. The £20,000 prize, sponsored by Channel 4 since 1991, was presented by Madonna.

Martin Creed was shortlisted for the exhibition Martin Creed Works, organised by Southampton City Art Gallery and shown at Leeds City Art Gallery, Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool, and Camden Arts Centre, London, and Art Now: Martin Creed, Tate Britain, London.

In awarding Creed the Prize the jury praised the deftness and breadth of his recent work, as seen in neon pieces such as Work # 203: Everything is going to be alright and Work # 232: The whole world + the work = the whole world, as well as his contribution to the Turner Prize exhibition. They admired his audacity in presenting a single work in the exhibition, and noted its strength, rigour, wit and sensitivity to the site. Coming out of the tradition of minimal and conceptual art, his work is engaging, wide ranging and fresh, extending into music in the band owada.

The jury also stressed the strength of the shortlist and wished to record their admiration for the outstanding exhibitions produced by all four artists.

Turner Prize 2001: Martin Creed