Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Britain's Turner Prize has done its job and should be retired or at least rethought. Nothing demonstrates that so clearly as the new exhibition at Tate Britain chronicling the art award's history since its birth in 1984.

In these white and carefully installed London galleries, it all looks so admirable, tame and respectable. The art is so predictable it has lost its power to shock.

Laid out roughly chronologically, the show starts in the Duveen Gallery with works by the first three winners, veterans Malcolm Morley, Howard Hodgkin, and Gilbert & George. Richard Long, who won the 1989 award after four nominations, is represented by the intricate, meandering ``White Water Line.''

A new sponsor, Channel 4, seized the Tate in 1991, giving the award an age limit of 50 and double the prize money.

Rachel Whiteread's ``untitled (floor)'' is similar to the bricks by minimalist Carl Andre that caused a kerfuffle at the Tate in the 1970s, though Whiteread's work is polite and in resin.

On the wall is documentation of Whiteread's ``House'' from 1993, when an entire home in London's East End was turned into a negative concrete cast. The photos show the sheer ambition of this work, which was sadly destroyed in 1994.

Tasteful Spots

Damien Hirst's installation with its vitrine of sliced cow, ``Mother and Child, Divided'' in swimming-pool-blue liquid is placed in front of a spot painting that looks so tasteful, more fitting for an advertising agency.

Antony Gormley's ``Testing a World View'' is similarly familiar, with his figures huddled in corners or on the ceiling.

Amid the predictability, the visitor is brought up short to figure out who made a large exuberant sculpture, reminiscent of Phillip King. It is by Grenville Davey, who was the unexpected winner in 1992. He beat Hirst, who later won in 1995.

A large empty gallery houses Martin Creed's entry, ``number 227, The Lights Going On and Off'' which won the Turner in 2001. In the flickering light it is easy to picture the headlines and anger engendered by a former Tate spokesman Simon Wilson, who defended the work: ``One year we have dirty knickers on show (in Tracey Emin's bed) and people complain about that -- and then, when you have something as pure and as spiritual as this, they still complain.'' It was once a talking point. Now it seems so bland, not helped that it is isolated in this way.

Politely Modest

The show ends with last year's winner, the polite paintings of Tomma Abts. Nothing wrong with these small modest works, except for some of the critic's extravagant claims made about them.

Nice though, that it is a woman who won, only the third since the prize started. Gillian Wearing won in 1997, the year the jury nominated a totally female shortlist.

Artists who have been nominated and not won include Lucian Freud and Richard Hamilton and many woman including Emin, Paula Rego, Sam Taylor-Wood, Christine Borland, Angela Bulloch, Mona Hatoum, Tacita Dean, Cornelia Parker and Anya Gallaccio.

The most subversive work belongs to the first winner, Morley, an English painter who moved to the U.S. 50 years ago. His ``Day Fishing in Heraklion'' and others still seem fresh, and in a singular style.

It is clear that the protectionism implied in the rule that the artist must live or work in the U.K. needs an overhaul or the prize will just swim in ever-shrinking circles. English artists no longer need protection; they are among the best known and highest earning in the world. The Turner should open the door and let a few surprises in.

``The Turner Prize: a Retrospective'' continues at Tate Britain until Jan. 10, 2008. The Turner winner for 2007 will be announced on Dec. 3.

``The Turner Prize Show,'' with the current contestants, runs from Oct. 19, to Jan. 13, 2008, at the Tate Liverpool. The exhibition is supported by Arts Council England and Liverpool Culture Company. For information: click on http://www.tate.org.uk or call +44-207-887-8888.

(Karen Wright is a critic for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are her own.)

To contact the writer of this review: Karen Wright at karen@karenwright.org.

Last Updated: October 8, 2007 01:35 EDT