Turner Prize event at Baltic gets 140,000

Winner Martin Boyce was presented with a cheque for £25,000 by photographer Mario Testino

The Turner Prize exhibition of contemporary art at Gateshead's Baltic gallery has attracted 140,000 visitors.

The exhibition, including winning sculptor Martin Boyce's work of artificial trees and a litter bin, ends on Sunday after three months.

It was only the second time the event has been hosted outside of London.

A spokeswoman for the Baltic said the gallery was delighted with its success and hoped it had introduced more people to contemporary art.

The prestigious and frequently controversial prize is awarded to a British artist aged under 50 who is judged to have put on the best exhibition of the last 12 months.

Different city

Boyce was presented with a cheque for £25,000 by photographer Mario Testino in December.

The other nominees were installation sculptor Karla Black, video artist Hilary Lloyd and painter George Shaw.

The annual exhibition and ceremony had only been held outside London once before in its 27-year history, at Tate Liverpool in 2007.

The Turner's traditional home is Tate Britain.

In the future the prize will be held in a different city in the UK in alternate years, returning to London in the years between. It will be held in Londonderry in 2013.