Holly Johnson to present the Turner Prize in Liverpool

Holly Johnson will present this year’s Turner Prize at a special ceremony at St George’s Hall.

The prize exhibition is currently on show at Tate Liverpool, the first time in 15 years it has been staged in the city.

The Liverpool-born singer will announce who has won from the four shortlisted artists – Heather Phillipson, Ingrid Pollard, Veronica Ryan and Sin Wai Kin – on Wednesday, December 7, live on the BBC from the Lime Street landmark.

The overall winner will receive £25,000 with the three runners up each being presented with £10,000.

Johnson is an artist and writer as well as a musician. He rose to fame in the 1980s as the frontsman of Frankie Goes to Hollywood and wrote their hits Relax, Two Tribes and The Power of Love.

He has shown his work at Tate Liverpool, the Royal Academy and Liverpool Biennial.

The Turner Prize is one of the most prestigious contemporary visual arts prizes in the world, and was last in Liverpool in November 2007 when Hollywood actor and artist Dennis Hopper presented the award to artist Mark Wallinger.

The Turner Prize exhibition is at Tate Liverpool until March 19.

Image of Holly Johnson by Trevor Leighton