`Self-effacing' artist wins Turner Prize

Controversialists despair. The pile of atomised jet engine didn't scoop the Turner Prize in London this week after all, even though it had been favourite to win the famously contentious award. Instead, Richard Wright, 49, who had been considered the "quietest" yet most established entrant in the flamboyant four-strong shortlist _ which included works made from plastinated cows' brains and a whale skull _ scooped the 25,000 ($56,000) contemporary art award.

Wright, the oldest of four shortlistees who fell just inside the 50-year age limit, draws on gallery walls _ often in situ _ and his works are painted over or whitewashed at the end of his shows. He is listed by powerful gallery owner Larry Gagosian as one of the most important artists alongside Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons.

His art is not usually preconceived: he looks at a space and sets to work. His meticulous, geometric drawings are largely temporary. For his prize entry, he covered the entire expanse of a wall at Tate Britain with a Baroque wallpaper design of geometrical patterns in gold leaf, employing his usual method of painting on walls and ceilings of architectural spaces. When he was shortlisted, judges likened him to a fresco painter.

Stephen Deuchar, the outgoing director of Tate Britain and chairman of judges, had said that Wright's work was "discreet and self-effacing".

Born in London, Wright's family moved to Scotland when he was young. He attended Edinburgh College of Art and lives in Glasgow.

- INDEPENDENT