Turner Prize 2012

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Set up in 1984, the Tate's Turner Prize has been courting controversy ever since. The most notorious prize in the world of contemporary art, it carries a large cash prize and instant fame for the winner who must be a British artist under fifty and have staged an 'outstanding' exhibition of work completed within the year. The shortlist always seems to feature conceptual art of the most difficult-to-understand sort. But despite the uproar from stuffier elements in the tabloids, this show is always great fun. The four shortlisted artists this year are: Luke Fowler, Spartacus Chetwynd, Paul Noble, and Elizabeth Price. They'll be attempting to join the illustrious list of recent winners including Damien Hirst, Gillian Wearing, Grayson Perry and, 2011's winner, Martin Boyce whose installation Do Words Have Voices won the prize in the year that the exhibition up sticks and moved to the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead. No matter what your view, the return of the Turner Prize to London in 2012 makes this a must for lovers of contemporary art. The exhibition opens at Tate Britain on 2 October and the winner will be announced on 3 December 2012.

Turner Prize 2012 Spartacus Chetwynd, Odd Man Out, Sadie Coles, London, 05 May-04 June 2011, inaugural performance 05 May © Spartacus Chetwynd, courtesy Sadie Coles HQ, London