Mark Wallinger appointed to Southbank's Board

Mark Wallinger, one of Britain’s foremost contemporary artists, has been appointed to Southbank Centre’s Board of Governors. He took up the post on 1 July 2010.

Rick Haythornthwaite, Chairman of the Board, said: ‘I am delighted to welcome Mark Wallinger to the Board. His acclaimed exhibition The Russian Linesman at the Hayward Gallery was one of the highlights of Southbank Centre’s programme last year. With an international career spanning 25 years Mark brings his invaluable knowledge and talent to the Board.’

Mark Wallinger said: ‘I am delighted to have joined Southbank Centre’s Board. It was a pleasure to work with the Hayward Touring team on my recent exhibition and I look forward to working with everyone here to help shape the future of this unique creative melting pot.’

Mark Wallinger was born in Chigwell, Essex in 1959 and lives and works in London. Among his most well known works are: A Real Work of Art, a racehorse, which Wallinger bought in 1993 and entered in the flat racing season in 1994; Ecce Homo, a life-size sculpture of Christ that occupied the Fourth Plinth in London's Trafalgar Square (1999); and State Britain, a meticulous recreation of peace campaigner Brian Haw’s Parliament Square protest for the Duveen Galleries at Tate Britain (2007). He was shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 1995, which he subsequently won in 2007. He represented Britain at the 49th Venice Biennale in 2001. In 2009 his design for a sculpture of a giant white horse was selected for the Ebbsfleet Landmark commission.

Also last year his Hayward Touring exhibition Mark Wallinger curates: The Russian Linesman was presented at the Hayward Gallery, Leeds Art Gallery and Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea.

An exhibition of new work by Mark Wallinger is currently on show at Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, until 17th July. This is his first solo exhibition in the UK since winning the Turner Prize in 2007.