Mark Wallinger

It consisted of a negative reproduction image in a lightbox showing the famous 18th-century oil painting, Whistlejacket (c.1762) by George Stubbs, but altered by adding a horn on its head, thus turning it into a unicorn.

Mark Wallinger (born 25 May 1959) is an English artist.

Wallinger was born in Chigwell, Essex, on 25 May 1959.

He trained at the Chelsea School of Art in London, from 1978 to 1981, before studying for an MA from Goldsmiths, University of London from 1983 to 1985.

After graduating in 1985, most of his degree show was exhibited by the Anthony Reynolds Gallery, and he continued to teach part-time at Goldsmiths.

Having previously been nominated for the Turner Prize in 1995, he won in 2007 for his installation State Britain.

In front of the pavilion Oxymoron (1996) was flying from a flagpole, a flag with the British Union Jack replaced by green and orange of the Irish flag colours.

In addition to Angel (1997), Threshold to the Kingdom (2000), Life Class (2001), Ghost (2001), and Time and Relative Dimensions in Space (2001), the sculpture Ecce Homo (1999-2000), first presented on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, in 2000, welcomed visitors into the main gallery.

In 1998, Wallinger won the Henry Moore Fellowship, British School at Rome, an award offered to outstanding scholars and artists with the opportunity to work in Rome for 3 to 12 months.

His work Ecce Homo (1999–2000) was the first piece to occupy the empty fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square.

He represented Britain at the Venice Biennale in 2001.

In 2001, Wallinger was honored with the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program, one of the world's most respected artist-in-residence programmes for established artists working in the fine arts, film, literature and music.

The following year he received an Honorary Fellowship from the London Institute.

In 2001, the British Council revealed that they had selected Mark Wallinger to produce a solo show of new and past artworks for the British Pavilion at the 49th Venice Biennale.

The show included sculpture, video, painting, and photography.

Wallinger presented the site-specific work, Facade (2001), which wrapped the front of the British Pavilion with an identical size replica colour photograph of the Pavilion itself printed on vinyl-coated material attached from scaffolding.

Ghost (2001) continued with Wallinger’s fixation and exploration of British horse racing traditions.

In contrast, Time and Relative Dimensions in Space (2001) referred to the space-traveling machine from the British show Doctor Who.

Recreated especially for the biennale, Wallinger delivered a reflective mirrored replica of the famous police box.

Wallinger's later work appears to have largely turned away from his earlier preoccupations, instead apparently focusing on religion and death and the influence of William Blake.

"Angel" is a video played in reverse showing the artist walking backwards at the bottom of the down escalator at Angel Underground Station while reciting the opening lines of the Gospel of John in the King James Bible.

In 2003, Wallinger was the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Central England in Birmingham, UK.

This had been confiscated by the police under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005.

He also put a black line on the floor of the Tate and through the middle of his exhibit to mark part of a 1 kilometre exclusion zone from Parliament Square.

The jury applauded the work for its “immediacy, visceral intensity and historic importance” integrating “a bold political statement with art’s ability to articulate fundamental human truths”.

The art historian Yve-Alain Bois described State Britain as “one of the most remarkable political works of art ever”.

On speaking to the BBC about the award, Wallinger added, "I am indebted to all those people who contributed to the making of State Britain. Brian Haw is a remarkable man who has waged a tireless campaign against the folly and hubris of our government’s foreign policy. For six-and-a-half years he has remained steadfast in Parliament Square, the last dissenting voice in Britain. Bring home the troops, give us back our rights, trust the people."

In 2007, he was awarded the Turner Prize.

Mark Wallinger was awarded the 2007 Turner Prize for State Britain, a direct meticulous replica and reconstruction of Brian Haw’s protest peace camp outside the Houses of Parliament against policies towards Iraq.

The installation occupied the entire length of Tate Britain’s Duveen Galleries, consisting of more than 600 banners, flags, teddy bears, peace signs, Haw’s tarpaulin shelter, and other materials amassed by Haw over his years of protest.

The original display consisted of donations from the public, including paintings, banners and toys.

In 2009, Goldsmith College honoured Wallinger for his achievements which reflect the values important to the Goldsmiths community.

In the same year Wallinger’s design was selected from a three-strong shortlist for the Ebbsfleet Landmark Project Commission.

In 2010, he presented Sinema Amnesia in Çanakkale as part of “My City”, a project which invited five artists from five European countries to produce installations in different Turkish cities.

In 2011 the artwork was exhibited for the first time in the Netherlands at the De Pont Museum of Contemporary Art.

Labyrinth (2013), a permanent commission for Art on the Underground, was created to celebrate 150 years of the London Underground.

As part of the Transported by Design programme of activities, on 15 October 2015, after two months of public voting, Mark Wallinger's Labyrinth work was elected by Londoners as one of the 10 favourite transport design icons.

In 2018, the permanent work Writ in Water was realized for the National Trust to celebrate the Magna Carta at Runnymede.

In 2019, Writ in Water, a major architectural artwork by Mark Wallinger, in collaboration with Studio Octopi, for the National Trust at Runnymede, Surrey, was shortlisted for the Stirling Prize.

In the same year, the project won the RIBA South East Award, the RIBA National Award, the Civic Trust Awards Commendation, MacEwen Award Shortlisting and EUMies Award Nomination, and the Marsh Award for Excellence in Public Fountains or Water features by The Public Statues and Sculptures Association in 2021.