Turner Prize-winning artist Douglas Gordon goes on axe rampage after receiving poor reviews
Nobody was hurt but damage was done to the brand new HOME theatre
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Your support makes all the difference.A Turner Prize-winning artist has been hit with a repair bill after he went on a “wholly inappropriate” axe rampage causing damage to a brand new £25 million theatre after his play got scathing reviews.
Douglas Gordon, who became the first video artist to win the Turner, reportedly used a prop from a play he wrote and directed based on Little Red Riding Hood to damage Manchester’s HOME theatre.
A chunk has been removed from the concrete walls of HOME and the artist is believed to have also scrawled graffiti of a wolf’s claw which he then signed and dated.
Neck of the Woods, starring Broadchurch’s Charlotte Rampling, opened as part of the Manchester International Festival last week.
Gordon is believed to have inflicted the damage at around 10.30pm on Saturday night. Poor reviews of his production were published online earlier that day.
The show, which features several axes as props, was described by The Telegraph as a “vanity project” with a script which “simply isn’t very good”.
The Guardian’s Lynn Gardner awarded the production two stars out of five and concluded that the show was “all style and no fangs” and made her want to howl.
MIF Artistic director Alex Poots condemned Gordon’s actions as “totally unacceptable” and said he would “be paying for repairs”.
“We understand that one of our artists acted in a wholly inappropriate way on Saturday night, causing slight damage to the fabric of HOME’s new building,” Poots said in a statement.
“MIF and the artist have contacted staff who were present and our co-commissioning partners at HOME to apologise.”
He continued: “We do not support or condone reckless, inappropriate or intimidating behaviour and will work with our co-commissioning partners and artistic and producing teams to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
HOME opened in May and is believed to have cost £25 million.
Neck of the Woods runs until Saturday.
Glasgow-born Gordon, 48, was the first video artist to win the Turner Prize with Confessions of a Justified Sinner in 1996.
The artist was not available for comment at press time.
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