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Malcolm Morley
Shortlisted: 1984

Morley's work combines autobiographical, mythical and emotional content, with a painting style influenced not only by Cézanne but also a range of twentieth century art movements, including Cubism, Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism. He has said 'I have this tremendous belief in the relationship between what we call the unconscious and conscious life. I think we're really more like icebergs. There's this huge underbelly. The idea is to integrate the two so they become one'.

Malcolm Morley was born in London, England in 1931. From 1954 to 1957 he studied at the Royal College of Art and a year later he moved to the United States. Morley was the first artist to win the Turner Prize, in 1984. He was chosen for his retrospective exhibition of paintings held at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, which later toured venues across Europe and the United States.

This information has been taken from The Turner Prize: Twenty Years, by Virginia Button, Tate Publishing, 2003.

View Malcolm Morley in the Tate Collection