“Widely recognised as one of Britain’s foremost contemporary artists, Lucas’s work has consistently been characterised by its irreverent humour and deft use of ‘readymade’ objects—furniture, food, tabloid newspapers, tights, toilets, cigarettes,” the group said in a statement.

Sarah Lucas is considered a core member of the YBAs (Young British Artists) and is well known for her sculptures and photographs of food and ordinary household objects appearing like human body parts.

Lucas was part of the first wave of what came to be known as the YBAs, exhibiting alongside other students of Goldsmiths art college in the now legendary Freeze exhibition in 1988. She quickly established a signature bawdy style – her first two solo shows were titled The Whole Joke and Penis Nailed to a Board, while a 1999 self-portrait pictured her wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with fried eggs over her breasts. “The embarrassment factor can be quite important,” she has said, “because then you know you’ve touched a nerve, even with yourself.”

The executive director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts, Gregor Muir, who was on the selection panel, said Lucas had “affirmed her status as a leading international artist” with exhibitions around the world in recent years. “Having consistently pushed the limits of her practice, there’s a sense that Lucas – seemingly more active than ever – is coming into her own.”

Image: Sarah Lucas.