![Edward Enninful at the Turner Prize ceremony](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/374F/production/_109995141_enninfulpa.jpg)
![Oscar Murillo with his art in Margate](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/15BE3/production/_109995098_murilloget.jpg)
![Tai Shani with her art in Margate](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/4EBF/production/_109995102_shaniget_cut.jpg)
'The upset to end them all', or 'virtue signalling'?
Reacting to the news of the shared prize, Adrian Searle in The Guardian wrote: "'Good for them!' - subverting the Turner prize is what artists are meant to do". "Losers have sulked and even attacked people with gladioli. But the four shortlisted artists' decision to share this year's winnings could be the upset to end them all," said their writer Adrian Searle. The Independent declared: "The Turner Prize puts itself out of business by allowing the artists to award the prize to themselves." "The four nominees asked to share this year's prize - but robbing the judges and the public of the opportunity to scrutinise and compare their work hurts the artists too," wrote Mark Hudson. "Is the baffling Turner Prize 2019 result just a virtue signal for the snowflake era?" asked Alastair Sooke in The Telegraph. Twitter user Jamie Byng posted: "What a beautiful and genuine act of solidarity. I hope this inspires others to think and act similarly". Writer Musa Okwonga agreed, adding the "only true opponents" to artists are "the blank canvas". Art critic Andrew Russell was less enthusiastic about all four artists "asking for a participation trophy!", as he put it. No winners or losers? Analysis by BBC arts editor Will Gompertz The decision to award the Turner Prize to all four nominees collectively was not made on the spur of the moment. The idea developed in the autumn when the artists first met in Margate for the Turner Prize exhibition opening. It was discussed within the Tate (the ultimate overseer of the prize), led by Alex Farquharson. The proposal gave pause for thought, reservations were expressed, followed by the decision to put the artists' proposal to the Turner Prize jury. The jury's decision to acquiesce to the artists' request sets a precedent which may well complicate matters for future juries, and possibly, the prize itself. The fact is a lot of the artists who accept the invitation to take part in the Turner Prize (some refuse) do so with a nagging concern about its basic conceit: a competition to choose a winner, a best in class. Nominees can see it as a simplistic, reductive notion, which sits uncomfortably. In the past they've held their nose and got on with it. I wonder how many will in the future. Maybe annual awards like the Turner Prize and the Booker Prize, which also didn't have a single winner this year, are reaching their sell-by date: an anachronism from a bygone binary age of winners and losers.![Presentational grey line](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/ADF0/production/_106282544_2b69d5aa-9c36-475a-914c-5e79c202dfde.jpg)
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