The winner of this year's John Moores Painting Prize is Gary McDonald for his painting Fontana in which the artist is depicted slashing his own canvas. The title references Italian artist Lucio Fontana, famous for his 'Concetto Spaziale' series of paintings in which he literally cut into space,

slashing the canvas. Former winner and 2008 selector Graham Crowley seemed particularly animated when announcing the prize, finding it 'a great pleasure' to announce McDonald the winner of the 25,000 [pounds sterling] award. Kate McGarry, who represents McDonald beamed at the news of his win, while local and international press surrounded the winning artist. A record 3,222 paintings were submitted, with Crowley, Jake & Dinos Chapman, Paul Morrison and Sacha Craddock selecting works for inclusion. The four runners-up were Julian Brain, Geraint Evans, Grant Foster and Neal Jones, who each receive 2,500 [pounds sterling]. The prize coincided with the opening of the Liverpool Biennial and New Contemporaries 2008. www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker/johnmoores

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