Ten most notable and notorious Turner Prize winners

The Turner Prize is arguably Europe's most prestigious, and controversial, contemporary visual art award. Its exhibits have divided opinion among critics and public alike and a protest group formed in 2000 - the 'Stuckists' - have branded it a "national joke".

After collective Assemble was announced as the 2015 prizewinner in Scotland this evening, here are the top 10 most notable - and notorious - Turner-winning artists.

1. Damien Hurst

The 1995 winner sparked controversy with his works creating art out of animal carcasses. He won the prize for 'Mother and Child Divided' - a cow and a calf each cut in half and preserved in tanks of formaldehyde solution. Receiving his award, Hirst notoriously said: “It’s amazing what you can do with an E in A Level art, a twisted imagination and a chainsaw.” But his animal carcass works, that include a shark in formaldehyde entitled The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, have served him well. He is now the world's richest living artist.

2. Gilbert and George

Gilbert and George's 1986 entry. Credit: PA

Critics said the 1986 prize to Gilbert and George, who won for their brightly coloured photo montages in their trademark styles proved that the Turner switched its focus to personality rather than art. Even the artists themselves, who had been nominated in 1984, seemed unimpressed by their win. "We don't like prizes," they said. "We are apart from all that. It is not important to us."

3. Rachel Whiteread

Rachel Whiteread stands in front of one of her plaster casts. Credit: PA

Whiteread, the first female winner, won the prize in 1993 for her sculpture House, a 'fossil' of an empty house in east London that she and her team filled with liquid concrete before stripping off the exterior. But her sculpture won her another less coveted prize, the K Foundation's first Anti-Turner prize, for the worst artist in England. Her double "victory" proved how polarised opinions of the contemporary art world can be. It was described as "extraordinary and imaginative" by Andrew Graham-Dixon and "meritless gigantism" by Brian Sewell.

4. Gillian Wearing

Gillian Wearing (centre) is congratulated after winning the prize. Credit: Reuters

Wearing's 60 minutes of Silence, a video of actors dressed in police uniforms standing still for an hour, won the 1997 prize. The controversy that year came during a live Channel 4 discussion programme on the prize which was disrupted by a drunken Tracey Emin after the awards dinner before she stormed out. Emin, who was nominated for the award two year's later for her 'My Bed', later said she had no memory of the event, only discovering her actions when reading the next morning's newspapers.

5. Chris Ofili

'No Woman No Cry', one of the works which won Ofili the prize. Credit: PA

The 1998 winner was the first painter to be awarded the prize in 12 years but his work using resin covered elephant dung caused a great deal of controversy. One protestor deposited dung on the steps of the Tate in response to his work. However, one of his works that won him the prize, No Woman No Cry, inspired by the murder of Stephen Lawrence, was described as a "masterpiece" by the Financial Times.

6. Grayson Perry

Grayson Perry poses with his work after winning the Turner Prize. Credit: Reuters

Grayson Perry's pottery, that won him the 2003 prize was largely welcomed. The judging panel admired his use of traditional ceramics and drawing while exploring personal and social concerns. Basildon-born transvestite Perry collected the £20,000 prize as Claire, his alter-ego.

7. Martin Creed

Martin Creed won with 'The Lights Going On and Off'. Credit: PA

Creed's 'The Lights Going On and Off' did exactly what the title said. The installation was a bare room in which the lights turned on and off. The 2001 win itself was controversial with artist Jacqueline Crofton so incensed that she threw eggs at the wall of his installation. To spark even more controversy, Madonna presented the award and swore live on Channel 4 before the watershed.

8. Steve McQueen

Steve McQueen was the first artist to win the award using film. Credit: PA

Film-maker Steve McQueen was the first artist to win the award using film. His works included his film Prey which focuses on a tape recorder playing the sound of tap dancing. He was the second favourite to win the £20,000 and arguably overshadowed by the other nominee Tracey Emin. Emin's 'My Bed' littered with worn underwear, empty bottles, cigarettes and condoms to represent her nervous breakdown was widely criticised and Chinese-born artists Cai Yuan and Jian Jun Xi famously jumped into the bed to have a pillow fight which they said would "improve" the exhibit.

9. Mark Wallinger

Mark Wallinger at the unveiling of his installation State Britain. Credit: PA

The 2007 winner, known for his sculpture for the empty fourth plinth in Trafalgar Aquare, Ecce Homo, secured the prize for State Britain, his recreation of Brian Haw's protest display outside parliament. In his acceptance speech, Wallinger praised Haw's "tireless campaign against the folly and hubris of our government's foreign policy". He added: "Bring home the troops. Give us back our rights. Trust the people." He also praised his own work adding: "It was the best thing that was shown this year, and I don't think I should be humble about it."

10. Malcolm Morley

The inaugural winner in 1984 was, unusually for the prize, a painter. His two works Day Fishing in Heraklion 1983 and Cradle of Civilization with American Woman 1982 were part of a body of work inspired by Morley's trip to Greece in the summer of 1982. The works are considered forerunners of the Neo-Expressionist movement. Although not a controversial winner, the award raised eyebrows as the British painter had not lived in England for 20 years - the prize is for British visual artists under 50.