0:00:02 > 0:00:09This programme contains very strong language
0:00:10 > 0:00:12Hmm, that looks familiar.
0:00:16 > 0:00:17So does that.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22I've definitely seen that before.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24And that.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27It's all coming back - every controversial,
0:00:27 > 0:00:31irritating and contentious moment of it.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34It's all coming back.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36The Turner Prize.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39The bloody Turner Prize.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42Every year, the great and the good of the art world
0:00:42 > 0:00:48get together and award a gong to the best display of British art
0:00:48 > 0:00:51of the preceding 12 months.
0:00:51 > 0:00:56And every year they find something that annoys us.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00Something about which the whole nation can howl.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03Because say what you want about the Turner Prize -
0:01:03 > 0:01:06and believe me, I have done -
0:01:06 > 0:01:09you have to admit, it's had a hell of an impact.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18In the 30 years it's been with us, the Turner has delighted
0:01:18 > 0:01:22and infuriated us punters in equal measure.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27It's turned unknowns into pillars of the establishment
0:01:27 > 0:01:32and even generated its own cranky opposition movement.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34I'm still a little unclear about what you got out of it, then, Jake?
0:01:34 > 0:01:36I didn't get anything out of it.
0:01:38 > 0:01:39It gives you a bit of confidence.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42You're basically recognised by the museums or curators
0:01:42 > 0:01:45rather than the market.
0:01:45 > 0:01:50Britain has turned from an nation that roundly ignored modern art
0:01:50 > 0:01:54into one that roundly can't get enough of it.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58And much of the credit for that - or is it the blame? -
0:01:58 > 0:01:59is due to the Turner.
0:02:01 > 0:02:02How did it happen?
0:02:02 > 0:02:04What went on?
0:02:04 > 0:02:07You're about to find out.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10Because this is the story of the Turner Prize.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22As we all know, the prize was named after Turner,
0:02:22 > 0:02:25Britain's greatest landscape painter,
0:02:25 > 0:02:28and every year, one thing that's guaranteed
0:02:28 > 0:02:32is that someone somewhere will write that Turner
0:02:32 > 0:02:36must be turning in his grave at the sight of the Turner Prize.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41I've written it myself, several times.
0:02:44 > 0:02:48So I wonder if it might have been more appropriate
0:02:48 > 0:02:53to have named it after another of the giants of British art,
0:02:53 > 0:02:55that cheeky, outrageous,
0:02:55 > 0:02:59sneering naysayer, Hogarth -
0:02:59 > 0:03:03whose contribution prepared the ground so well
0:03:03 > 0:03:06for all the enfants terribles that followed.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11As an homage to Hogarth
0:03:11 > 0:03:17and the long shadow he's cast over the Turner Prize,
0:03:17 > 0:03:22I'm dividing this film into four chapters in the style of
0:03:22 > 0:03:27Hogarth's great lament upon the descent of man,
0:03:27 > 0:03:29A Rake's Progress.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33This is The Prize's Progress,
0:03:33 > 0:03:37and to begin at the beginning, here's part one,
0:03:37 > 0:03:41in which the prize is born, before being born again.
0:03:48 > 0:03:49# Jitterbug
0:03:51 > 0:03:52# Jitterbug... #
0:03:54 > 0:03:571984 saw the first Turner Prize,
0:03:57 > 0:04:01with a shortlist featuring Gilbert & George,
0:04:01 > 0:04:03Howard Hodgkin
0:04:03 > 0:04:05and Richard Long.
0:04:05 > 0:04:12At the time, starting the Turner was in itself an outrageous thing to do.
0:04:12 > 0:04:17These were still the austere, early days of the Thatcher era,
0:04:17 > 0:04:22and art was way down the list of national priorities.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26Britain was a nation of hardened modern art haters,
0:04:26 > 0:04:30still fuming at the Tate Gallery's acquisition
0:04:30 > 0:04:32of Carl Andre's Equivalent VIII,
0:04:32 > 0:04:35or, as they were called at the time,
0:04:35 > 0:04:37those damn Tate bricks.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43Britain needed a hero,
0:04:43 > 0:04:46and a hero duly stepped up -
0:04:46 > 0:04:50the then director of the Tate, Sir Alan Bowness.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53Sir Alan, when you started the Turner Prize,
0:04:53 > 0:04:57what were your thoughts, what were your hopes for this award?
0:04:57 > 0:05:01Well, I think primarily I was always very keen on modern art,
0:05:01 > 0:05:03particularly contemporary art.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07I just wanted to share that enthusiasm with other people.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10And I thought the idea of a prize
0:05:10 > 0:05:13appeals to a certain gambling instinct
0:05:13 > 0:05:16which I think is strong in the British people.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20The winner of the 1984 Turner Prize is Malcolm Morley.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25That was a bit of a blow, in a way,
0:05:25 > 0:05:31when the first prize went to a rather obscure name, Malcolm Morley.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33A good painter, British-born,
0:05:33 > 0:05:36but he'd been living in New York for many years.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40I then thought, well, maybe the very fact it's controversial
0:05:40 > 0:05:42is actually a very good thing.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45So what you're telling me is that, right from the beginning,
0:05:45 > 0:05:48this idea of a potential controversy was something
0:05:48 > 0:05:50- that was welcomed in the Turner Prize?- Yes.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53Perhaps I shouldn't say that too publicly.
0:05:53 > 0:05:54You've just said it.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58Has it exceeded your expectations, or does it dismay you?
0:05:58 > 0:06:06I'm not sure that I'm entirely happy with the way art has developed
0:06:06 > 0:06:08in the last 40 years.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12And a lot of conceptual art doesn't really excite me.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15All the young people in the art schools want to do
0:06:15 > 0:06:19conceptual art or performances or film or video.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22Anything but paint a picture or make a sculpture.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26MUSIC: Ghost Town by The Specials
0:06:26 > 0:06:27As the decade rumbled on
0:06:27 > 0:06:34and all the artists on that first shortlist went on to win the prize,
0:06:34 > 0:06:39questions began to be asked about its purpose and its merit.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41It is intriguing that there were,
0:06:41 > 0:06:43I think, five artists shortlisted,
0:06:43 > 0:06:46from four in 1984,
0:06:46 > 0:06:50and they all won the prize in the following years.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53So, I think early on it was just ticking off
0:06:53 > 0:06:57all the people who they felt should have had it in the first few years.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59So it didn't get momentum.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04Was this just a distinguished service medal?
0:07:04 > 0:07:07Something you got for being around long enough?
0:07:07 > 0:07:09A fish,
0:07:09 > 0:07:11thrown to a sea lion.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14# This town
0:07:14 > 0:07:17# Is coming like a ghost town... #
0:07:17 > 0:07:20There was also the tricky question of money.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23How to pay for the prize.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25Thatcher's government wasn't going to help.
0:07:25 > 0:07:30They were taking money away from the arts, not adding to it.
0:07:30 > 0:07:35So the cash needed to come from private sources.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38Initially, from a group of wealthy art lovers
0:07:38 > 0:07:40called the Patrons of New Art.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43But then, at the end of the decade,
0:07:43 > 0:07:48an American investment bank called Drexel Burnham Lambert
0:07:48 > 0:07:50took over the sponsorship.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53And that was a disaster.
0:07:54 > 0:07:59Tonight, the collapse of Drexel Burnham Lambert, America's top...
0:07:59 > 0:08:03When the sponsorship fell out of the window in 1990,
0:08:03 > 0:08:07the Turner was immediately cancelled for that year,
0:08:07 > 0:08:09and its future was uncertain.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13So this is where we come to the next stage of the
0:08:13 > 0:08:16Turner Prize's scandalous progress,
0:08:16 > 0:08:19in which I, Waldemar, write a letter.
0:08:24 > 0:08:29You may not believe this, but in 1989 they made me head of arts
0:08:29 > 0:08:34at an upstart, young broadcaster called Channel 4.
0:08:34 > 0:08:41And when the Turner failed to materialise in that winter of 1990,
0:08:41 > 0:08:44I was surprised to find that I missed it.
0:08:44 > 0:08:49So I wrote to the newly appointed Tate director, Nicholas Serota...
0:08:50 > 0:08:51'Dear Nick...'
0:08:51 > 0:08:54..with an offer he couldn't refuse -
0:08:54 > 0:08:58to relaunch the Turner Prize with Channel 4's help.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01'Yours sincerely, Waldemar.'
0:09:02 > 0:09:05When Channel 4 took over the sponsorship,
0:09:05 > 0:09:07a number of things were changed.
0:09:07 > 0:09:12The prize money was increased to a mighty £20,000,
0:09:12 > 0:09:16and the shortlist was limited to four artists.
0:09:16 > 0:09:21The exhibition, which had been a rather piddly affair in the past,
0:09:21 > 0:09:22or not there at all,
0:09:22 > 0:09:25was expanded into an ambitious event,
0:09:25 > 0:09:29with each artist getting their own room.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32And to fit in with the ethos of Channel 4,
0:09:32 > 0:09:36we introduced an age limit of 50.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39Old enough to have achieved something,
0:09:39 > 0:09:41young enough for it to matter.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45I think that the concentration on it being on hot young things
0:09:45 > 0:09:47is perhaps what it should be,
0:09:47 > 0:09:50but I do think they miss out on some of the more interesting artists.
0:09:50 > 0:09:55There are some artists who are in their 60s or 70s
0:09:55 > 0:09:57who are up-and-coming artists,
0:09:57 > 0:09:59because maybe they started late,
0:09:59 > 0:10:04or just their work didn't develop until fairly later on in life.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06Phyllida Barlow is a good example,
0:10:06 > 0:10:09or Rose Wylie, 70s and 80s,
0:10:09 > 0:10:13who took time out to have kids, you know...
0:10:13 > 0:10:16Their careers took off in later life.
0:10:18 > 0:10:24But in 1991, a brave, new mood entered the Turner.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28The shortlist included a group of young Turks in their 20s,
0:10:28 > 0:10:30barely out of college.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33But the alpha male of the pack
0:10:33 > 0:10:36was the exciting sculptor Anish Kapoor,
0:10:36 > 0:10:38whose pigment masterpieces
0:10:38 > 0:10:40were so joyful to look at.
0:10:42 > 0:10:44Doesn't the idea of a prize,
0:10:44 > 0:10:47of being given something for your work like that,
0:10:47 > 0:10:49doesn't that unsettle you in any way?
0:10:49 > 0:10:51Yeah, terribly.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55When I received it, my first reaction was,
0:10:55 > 0:11:00"Ugh, it has nothing to do with me, I don't want to be part of this."
0:11:00 > 0:11:03And I think it is a natural thing for an artist to feel.
0:11:03 > 0:11:10You know, we plough our little field or big field or whatever it is,
0:11:10 > 0:11:12but we're not in competition with each other.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17Afterwards, what did you make of the growth of the Turner?
0:11:17 > 0:11:21The Turner, I think, for the next ten years or so,
0:11:21 > 0:11:23felt very relevant.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27It really had its hand on something
0:11:27 > 0:11:31that mattered culturally, yeah.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34And now, hmm, who knows? Who knows?
0:11:34 > 0:11:36So what you're saying is, those were the great years?
0:11:36 > 0:11:39Oh, yes, my dear Waldemar, of course they were.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43MUSIC: Parklife by Blur
0:11:43 > 0:11:45With his historic win,
0:11:45 > 0:11:49Anish opened the door to a new generation that was coming of age.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55The first of the group - known later as the YBAs -
0:11:55 > 0:12:01and, coincidentally, the first woman to win the prize in 1993,
0:12:01 > 0:12:03was Rachel Whiteread,
0:12:03 > 0:12:06whose remarkable outdoor sculpture...
0:12:07 > 0:12:10..House, had gripped the nation.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14My personal opinion is it is a monstrosity, absolutely grotesque.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18It might fit well into Welwyn Garden City or somewhere like that,
0:12:18 > 0:12:21but it doesn't fit well into our environment.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23- Yeah.- It was about here, wasn't it? - Yeah, it was around about here,
0:12:23 > 0:12:27the lamppost was actually centre to the piece,
0:12:27 > 0:12:31maybe a little bit over to the right, but, yeah, it was here.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35You were the beginnings of the YBAs, weren't you?
0:12:35 > 0:12:38Yeah, exactly, the YBAs, yeah.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41We were the first few fresh-faced YBAs
0:12:41 > 0:12:44to be put out for slaughter, yeah.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46So, Rachel, let's talk about the Turner Prize.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48You were actually nominated twice for it -
0:12:48 > 0:12:50the first time in 1991, when you didn't win.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54In 1993, when you did win it, it was really intense,
0:12:54 > 0:12:56the pressure, wasn't it, in that year?
0:12:56 > 0:12:59It was, because I was also nominated for something called
0:12:59 > 0:13:03the K Foundation Award, which was for the worst artist.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05- Which you also won. - Which I also won, yes.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09It was £40,000, it was twice as much as the Turner Prize.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13- NEWSREADER:- The £40,000 prize money was nailed to a picture frame,
0:13:13 > 0:13:16which was then transported back to London
0:13:16 > 0:13:18and chained to the Tate Gallery.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20They were going to burn the money and it would be my fault.
0:13:20 > 0:13:22This is Rachel's award, can we hear it for Rachel?
0:13:22 > 0:13:24APPLAUSE
0:13:24 > 0:13:25You know, I just said,
0:13:25 > 0:13:27"Well, OK, give me the money and I'll give it away,"
0:13:27 > 0:13:29which is what I did.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31So the actual day that you won also was the time when
0:13:31 > 0:13:33the announcement was finally made that House
0:13:33 > 0:13:34was going to be knocked down.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36If the purpose of modern art is to provoke us to think twice
0:13:36 > 0:13:38about the world we live in,
0:13:38 > 0:13:40then Rachel Whiteread's House has been a triumphant success.
0:13:40 > 0:13:45In the past three months, up to 100,000 people have visited this
0:13:45 > 0:13:47now-vanished monument to London's housing.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49There was a lot of pressure, a lot of stress,
0:13:49 > 0:13:52and actually, really made me quite ill, I'd say.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55It's a lot to deal with.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59For me, 1993 was the year when the Turner Prize really changed.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01It was the year in which it went from
0:14:01 > 0:14:03the back pages of the newspapers to the front page.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07- Because of House, because of its notoriety.- Yeah.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10Yeah, I mean, I would say it was very divided,
0:14:10 > 0:14:13which is great, a good argument is a great thing.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17It questioned a lot about what art is.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20This was nearly 25 years ago,
0:14:20 > 0:14:26and, you know, there's a big difference to the arts scene now
0:14:26 > 0:14:28and how popular art has become.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32House changed everything.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36Suddenly the Turner Prize was on everyone's lips,
0:14:36 > 0:14:39and the shock tactics of the YBAs
0:14:39 > 0:14:41soon became synonymous with it.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46Nobody epitomised this new ethos more clearly,
0:14:46 > 0:14:52or more noisily, than Damien Hirst with his pickled beasties.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55- NEWSREADER:- Infamous for his trademark
0:14:55 > 0:14:57pickled animals in formaldehyde,
0:14:57 > 0:15:01Damien Hirst disappointed no-one with his spliced cow and calf.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06This era of scandal and outrage
0:15:06 > 0:15:10heralds a new Hogarthian chapter in our story...
0:15:12 > 0:15:16..in which Waldemar is upstaged by a rascal.
0:15:19 > 0:15:21MUSIC: No Surprises by Radiohead
0:15:21 > 0:15:25In 1997, I put on my best yellow bow tie
0:15:25 > 0:15:28and went live on the telly to debate the question,
0:15:28 > 0:15:33is painting dead?, with a bunch of art world worthies.
0:15:33 > 0:15:37Unfortunately, it wasn't the serious discussion we had that night
0:15:37 > 0:15:38that'll be remembered.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42The night I was nominated for the Turner Prize,
0:15:42 > 0:15:46and at the dinner, there was a TV debate going on.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50I think Tim Marlow was chairing it and Tracey had left the dinner,
0:15:50 > 0:15:53Tracey Emin, and gone to be part of the panel,
0:15:53 > 0:15:58and was very drunk because there was a lot of drinks flowing that night.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01I'm the artist here from that show.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04From the sensation. I'm here, I'm drunk.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07I had a good night out with my friends and I'm leaving now.
0:16:07 > 0:16:09Tracey stole the show.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11Going nowhere with this fucking mic on me.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14But she wasn't even on that year's shortlist.
0:16:15 > 0:16:20A few hours earlier, the 1997 Turner Prize had been won
0:16:20 > 0:16:24by the acclaimed video artist Gillian Wearing,
0:16:24 > 0:16:27well-known for her arresting work.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30I wanted to make a still, moving image.
0:16:30 > 0:16:32Something that looked like a photograph,
0:16:32 > 0:16:34but, actually, is a film.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36And then, obviously, with Police Uniform,
0:16:36 > 0:16:38it's all about power and control.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41In the first couple of minutes, it really is a very static image.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44And then, obviously, people's individual personalities
0:16:44 > 0:16:45start to come through,
0:16:45 > 0:16:49and so it's actually a very, very mobile film by the end.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53One man actually screams and throws his helmet in the air.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58He said his wife said it was only going to be a couple of minutes,
0:16:58 > 0:17:00but he kind of did stand there for a whole hour.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03OK. So, this fantastic piece goes out and then, hey,
0:17:03 > 0:17:06you get to actually win the prize.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08Tell us about that. Obviously, it was a surprise?
0:17:08 > 0:17:09Yeah, it was a surprise.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12So when they mentioned my name, I remember, yeah,
0:17:12 > 0:17:13it was kind of quite surreal.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16I hadn't prepared a speech, I can't remember what I said.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20David Hockney said I shouldn't have won it because it was a video work.
0:17:20 > 0:17:21I'm not sure he'd say that now,
0:17:21 > 0:17:24because I actually saw a piece of his in LA recently.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26- That was a video work. - He makes videos himself now, yes.
0:17:29 > 0:17:34Two years after Gillian Wearing won the Turner,
0:17:34 > 0:17:39Tracey Emin herself was nominated for an infamous work called My Bed.
0:17:39 > 0:17:44And the by-now customary tabloid outrage went into overdrive
0:17:44 > 0:17:48while visitor numbers went through the roof.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54As controversy followed controversy,
0:17:54 > 0:17:58the 2001 Turner was won by Martin Creed,
0:17:58 > 0:18:04whose blank installation The Lights Going On And Off
0:18:04 > 0:18:09gets my vote for the worst of all Turner Prize winners.
0:18:09 > 0:18:10I can't explain it.
0:18:12 > 0:18:17Except to say that the lights are definitely going on and off.
0:18:20 > 0:18:24Even more outrageous was that year's announcement ceremony...
0:18:24 > 0:18:26I'd like to thank you all for coming to my house.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28I hope you like my art collection.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31..where Madonna, presenting the prize,
0:18:31 > 0:18:35insisted on swearing before the watershed.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38I would also like to say, right on, motherfuckers.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42The Turner, it seemed, had gone too far again.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47So every year, regular as clockwork,
0:18:47 > 0:18:52the prize was now expected to serve up some juicy controversies.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55It had become a circus act,
0:18:55 > 0:18:57and the tabloids loved it,
0:18:57 > 0:19:01but somehow, despite all these distractions,
0:19:01 > 0:19:04it managed also to serve art properly
0:19:04 > 0:19:08and to reward some worthwhile talents.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10Jeremy Deller,
0:19:10 > 0:19:11Cornelia Parker,
0:19:11 > 0:19:13Wolfgang Tillmans -
0:19:13 > 0:19:18they all had cause to thank the Turner Prize.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22And so, too, did that lot over there.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24The so-called Stuckists.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28If you've heard of them at all, it's because of the Turner Prize.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32Every year, they turn up and protest about it.
0:19:32 > 0:19:33Why?
0:19:33 > 0:19:36Because they're stuck, stuck, stuck.
0:19:36 > 0:19:37That's why.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41Charles, good to see you again.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45Don't you feel particularly pointless by now?
0:19:45 > 0:19:47No, because we get a lot of publicity.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50- Is that all you're here for?- Erm, no. We're here to make a point.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52We're here to represent a lot of artists
0:19:52 > 0:19:54who are completely unrepresented in the Turner Prize.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57But you started making this point what, 15, 20 years ago?
0:19:57 > 0:20:00- How long ago was it now? - The first demonstration was in 2000.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03So, you're here more often than most of the Turner Prize winners?
0:20:03 > 0:20:07Yeah. I think we should actually be the Turner Prize winners.
0:20:07 > 0:20:09In fact, I'm looking forward to the demonstration
0:20:09 > 0:20:13being nominated inside, and then we can demonstrate outside
0:20:13 > 0:20:14against us being inside.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17- I want an honest answer here, right? Honest answer.- OK...
0:20:17 > 0:20:21Actually, Charles, you love the Turner Prize, don't you?
0:20:21 > 0:20:26Well, if it ended, we wouldn't be here talking to you,
0:20:26 > 0:20:29so it fulfils a very useful function.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32TV exclusive - the Stuckists love the Turner Prize.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36The first thing about them is they're very bad painters.
0:20:36 > 0:20:38And they go on about how great painting is and all that stuff,
0:20:38 > 0:20:41but actually, technically, not many of them are that good.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45And I'm sure most conceptual artists can paint just as well as or better
0:20:45 > 0:20:48than a lot of those Stuckists, weirdly.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51They're kind of the Ukip of art, aren't they, really?
0:20:53 > 0:20:56The Stuckists were yesterday's story.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00Most people in Britain today know a lot more about modern art
0:21:00 > 0:21:02than they used to.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04And all this talk about going back
0:21:04 > 0:21:08to proper painting and sculpture is old hat.
0:21:10 > 0:21:15These days, art's extraordinary power to change things
0:21:15 > 0:21:19is recognised as a valuable national resource.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23Which brings us to our final Hogarthian chapter,
0:21:23 > 0:21:26where the Turner Prize goes north,
0:21:26 > 0:21:29and west, and all over the place.
0:21:31 > 0:21:33MUSIC: There There by Radiohead
0:21:33 > 0:21:38While, for some, the 1990s were the heyday of the Turner,
0:21:38 > 0:21:42I have a particularly soft spot for 2003,
0:21:42 > 0:21:47when two of my favourite British artists squared up to each other
0:21:47 > 0:21:49in a battle of the titans.
0:21:50 > 0:21:55In the red corner was the ceramic cross-dresser Grayson Perry.
0:21:55 > 0:21:57And in the blue corner
0:21:57 > 0:22:00were those naughty Brothers Grimm, the Chapmans.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06The year that Jake and Dinos and Grayson Perry were nominated,
0:22:06 > 0:22:08that was a pretty exciting year,
0:22:08 > 0:22:10and I think it was a big shock that Grayson won.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14That's when he really came out with Claire, his alter ego.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17Grayson's acceptance speech tickled viewers at home
0:22:17 > 0:22:19who hadn't seen Claire before.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23It's about time a transvestite potter won the Turner Prize.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26And he's become a national treasure since.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35It's a very difficult one to judge, that year, I think.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39I think the Chapmans probably didn't play their strongest hand,
0:22:39 > 0:22:41and there was a kind of quite puerile joke in it,
0:22:41 > 0:22:43which probably didn't go down very well with anyone.
0:22:43 > 0:22:48I met up with Jake Chapman and asked him what happened.
0:22:48 > 0:22:52So, Jake, obviously, it put you face-to-face with Grayson Perry.
0:22:52 > 0:22:57Everybody was always saying, one of these two's going to win.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00You know, I did tell Nick Serota on the night
0:23:00 > 0:23:02that he wasn't actually a little girl.
0:23:02 > 0:23:04Grayson Perry wasn't actually... I think they were
0:23:04 > 0:23:07under the impression he was actually a little girl and maybe they had
0:23:07 > 0:23:09given him - her - the prize because they felt sorry for her.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12- Didn't want him to cry? - Yeah, exactly.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15I'm still a little unclear about what you got out of it,
0:23:15 > 0:23:18- then, Jake, because... - I didn't get anything out of it.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21- So why did you do it? - Because it was another exhibition.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23I mean, I think it's, you know...
0:23:23 > 0:23:26I'd like to say it was an act of charity on our part,
0:23:26 > 0:23:28but it was some... You know, it was just another exhibition.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31I think, as artists,
0:23:31 > 0:23:33our interest is in making art and showing it,
0:23:33 > 0:23:36and having it operate in the world,
0:23:36 > 0:23:39and I don't think we're that fastidious about where we show it.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42In a sense, it was another place to just kind of off-load
0:23:42 > 0:23:47a load of stuff that might cause some kind of minor irritation,
0:23:47 > 0:23:49and then, you know, a glass of wine and then home.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53The most significant development
0:23:53 > 0:23:56in the Turner's story in the past decade
0:23:56 > 0:23:59has been the biennial departure from London.
0:24:00 > 0:24:07Since 2008, Liverpool, Londonderry and Gateshead have all hosted it.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10Taking it out of London has been a very exciting move.
0:24:10 > 0:24:15The response in Gateshead, the response in Glasgow,
0:24:15 > 0:24:17the response in Derry/Londonderry,
0:24:17 > 0:24:20and now Hull, has been really strong.
0:24:21 > 0:24:27The show in Derry in 2013 was a tremendously moving event.
0:24:27 > 0:24:31For once, the shortlist was excellent.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35And the same barracks in which the British Army had been encamped
0:24:35 > 0:24:38for all those dark years of the Troubles
0:24:38 > 0:24:42were now the site of the Turner Prize.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45Who says art cannot change things?
0:24:47 > 0:24:49Last year, the prize went to Glasgow,
0:24:49 > 0:24:52and amidst the usual grumbling,
0:24:52 > 0:24:58much of it from me, it was given to a bunch called Assemble,
0:24:58 > 0:25:02an architectural collective who'd regenerated a bit of Toxteth.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06And who'd never thought of themselves as artists.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20It gives us a few stars in Toxteth, where there has...
0:25:20 > 0:25:22You know, if you say Toxteth to people,
0:25:22 > 0:25:25the next word becomes "riots".
0:25:25 > 0:25:26Whereas now, it becomes...
0:25:28 > 0:25:29..resplendence.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35When it came to crossing boundaries,
0:25:35 > 0:25:40the Turner had lost none of its pioneering waywardness.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44This call comes out of the middle of nowhere that you've been nominated.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48I mean, it was a huge surprise for us.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51So, through that, we were able to launch Granby Workshop.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54It's a social enterprise based in this neighbourhood
0:25:54 > 0:25:57which makes and sells products.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59They're products which were originally designed
0:25:59 > 0:26:02for the houses here, but then, through the Turner Prize,
0:26:02 > 0:26:06we're able to open them up to kind of a global audience.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08It makes people more interested in
0:26:08 > 0:26:10the critical conversation around the work.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13It's given a credibility to people working in these quite divergent,
0:26:13 > 0:26:15quite diverse scenarios.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19It's amazing now that, kind of one year on, out of kind of,
0:26:19 > 0:26:22out of nothing, then we're building, hopefully,
0:26:22 > 0:26:26a really sustainable project in the area, which will continue to bring
0:26:26 > 0:26:28employment into this neighbourhood.
0:26:28 > 0:26:32And that's kind of, you know, an amazing achievement, I think.
0:26:32 > 0:26:36They may have trained as architects, but they were making art.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40I think the Turner Prize is always rejuvenated
0:26:40 > 0:26:45by expanding into new areas.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49It's quite interesting, really, to have it broader in terms of how...
0:26:49 > 0:26:50who can win.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54In its 30 years and counting,
0:26:54 > 0:26:58the Turner Prize has come a long, long way.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01When it started, no-one liked modern art.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06These days, we can't get enough of it.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10And having hated the last two shows
0:27:10 > 0:27:13and called, as always, for its scrapping,
0:27:13 > 0:27:17I find myself enjoying this year's Turner rather a lot.
0:27:21 > 0:27:26It's commendably tangible, commendably Hogarthian.
0:27:26 > 0:27:32No dreary film and video, no architectural collectives,
0:27:32 > 0:27:35no pointless lights going on and off,
0:27:35 > 0:27:39just stuff you can look at and feel.
0:27:40 > 0:27:45Anthea Hamilton's giant arse is quintessential Turner fodder.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47Hogarth would have loved it.
0:27:48 > 0:27:54Helen Martin's funny scatter art makes you peer and probe.
0:27:59 > 0:28:03Josephine Pryde and her little choo-choo train
0:28:03 > 0:28:05connects with the child within.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12And Michael Dean's grim-up-North word sculptures
0:28:12 > 0:28:15are sad and accusatory.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21It's a good mix in a good show.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23So, as sure as eggs is eggs,
0:28:23 > 0:28:27next year is bound to be awful.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31Turner Prize, I salute you.
0:28:31 > 0:28:33And thanks for the memories.