Sheila Wallis has won the 2009 Threadneedle Prize. Launched last year, the Threadneedle sees itself as a rival to the Turner Prize, and aims to make a dent in the hegemony (tyranny?) of conceptualism by promoting figurative and representational art. Although a panel of judges drew up the shortlist, Wallis’s Lucian Freud-inspired meditation on marbled flesh (Self-portrait, above) was chosen as the winner by public vote.
The 2009 Turner Prize jury (comprising Charles Esche, Mariella Frostrup, Jonathan Jones, Andrea Schlieker and Stephen Deuchar) announces the result of its deliberations on 7 December. The shortlisted artists are: Enrico David, Roger Hiorns, Lucy Skaer and Richard Wright.