Taking the Turner by surprise

LAURE PROUVOST’S win of the Turner Prize for 2013 is the latest in a long line of surprises that have helped keep the visual arts award in the news.

Another nominee, Tino Sehgal, was the favourite to win this year. The prize itself — £25,000 for the winner and £5,000 for each of the other three finalists — is not a huge sum. But the Turner has succeeded like no other in stimulating debate on what actually constitutes visual art, and what relevance the medium has in contemporary culture.

Prouvost was announced as the winner on Monday at the Ebrington Barracks, in Derry, where her work is being shown, along with that of the other three nominees: Sehgal, David Shrigley and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye.