Dec. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Mark Wallinger won Britain's 2007 Turner Prize for art at a ceremony in Liverpool.

Wallinger, 48, was honored for his best-known work ``State Britain,'' a reconstruction of peace campaigner Brian Haw's anti- Iraq-war protest in London's Parliament Square.

``I am a bit flabbergasted,'' Wallinger told reporters immediately after the announcement. ``I didn't think this would ever happen.'' He had entered a different work into the award show, his 2004 ``Sleeper,'' a film lasting more than two hours that shows him wandering around a Berlin gallery wearing a bear suit.

The jury, in an e-mailed statement, said ``State Britain'' had ``immediacy, visceral intensity and historic importance. The work combines a bold political statement with art's ability to articulate fundamental human truths.''

Wallinger said: ``By happenstance I was able to make a work that had some relevance to what's going on in Britain and in the world.'' He paid tribute to Haw: ``A remarkable man, who has waged a tireless campaign against the folly and hubris of our government's foreign policy.''

The room erupted in cheers when the award was announced: Wallinger was approaching his last chance for the prize, which is limited to artists under 50 years old. He said: ``I think I am the eldest member of this club and I am pleased about that. I think there is an argument for opening it up to anyone who has a pulse.''

Award-winners must also be resident in the U.K., though they need not be British nationals to be eligible.

Fourth Plinth

Wallinger is also known for his ``Ecce Homo,'' the first work to occupy the empty Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square.

The award was presented live on the U.K.'s Channel 4 television news by U.S. actor Dennis Hopper. The other artists on the shortlist were Nathan Coley, Zarina Bhimji and Mike Nelson. For the first time in the 23-year history of the prize the ceremony took place at Tate Liverpool, not in London.

Liverpool will be European Capital of Culture next year. The relocation of the Turner Prize exhibition and award ceremony to Merseyside is a curtainraiser to the forthcoming 12 months in the cultural spotlight.

Another break with tradition was that the chairman of the judges was Christoph Grunenberg, director of Tate Liverpool, not Nicholas Serota, overall director of Tate.

The other members of the jury were Fiona Bradley, director of the Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh; Michael Bracewell, writer and critic; Thelma Golden, director at the Studio Museum, Harlem; and Miranda Sawyer, a broadcaster and writer.

The prize, which is supported by Gordon's, was instituted in 1983. It is worth 40,000 ($82,666) pounds, of which 25,000 pounds goes to the winner, and 5,000 pounds to each of the other three candidates.

Media Profile

While not the most valuable art prize in Britain -- a distinction that belongs to the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Awards -- the Turner Prize has the highest media profile.

The Turner Prize has attracted controversy both because of its unusual entries and because it has sometimes not gone to the artist who later achieves most fame (among past losers are Damien Hirst, Jim Lambie, the Chapman Brothers and Tracey Emin).

Wallinger was the even-money favorite to win at bookmaker William Hill Plc. Nelson and Coley were in joint second place with odds of 3/1 and the outsider was Bhimji at 6/1.

The Turner Prize exhibition is at Tate Liverpool through Jan. 13, 2008.

(Martin Gayford is a critic for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this story: Martin Gayford at martin@cgayford.freeserve.co.uk.

Last Updated: December 3, 2007 17:01 EST