what is the turner prize awarded for

The Turner Prize is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist for an outstanding exhibition or other presentation. It was founded in 1984 by a group called the Patrons of New Art under the directorship of Alan Bowness to encourage wider interest in contemporary art and assist Tate in acquiring new works. The prize is named after the nineteenth-century artist J.M.W. Turner, who was innovative and controversial in his own day. The prize is awarded to a British artist, which can mean an artist working primarily in Britain or an artist born in Britain working globally. The prize focuses on their recent developments in British art rather than a lifetimes achievement. Each year, the Turner Prize jury shortlists four artists for the prize. The winner receives £25,000, and £5,000 each goes to the other shortlisted artists. The prize ceremony is held in a different venue outside Tate Britain, London, every other year. The Turner Prize exhibition is not always in London, and previous galleries include Baltic in Newcastle, Ferens Art Gallery in Hull, Ebrington in Derry~Londonderry, and Turner Contemporary in Margate. The prize has captured the vivid interest of the British media and public, for whom the unveiling of the shortlist often occasions a fierce debate about the artists’ relative merits and sometimes about the very definition of art.