Mark Wallinger, It's the Thought that Counts, 2001

Mark Wallinger

It's the Thought that Counts, 2001

Mixed media Christmas cracker, colored paper/ cardboard and ribbon with snap

Plate signed by Mark Wallinger on the accompanying card

21 1/2 × 2 × 2 inches

"It's the Thought That Counts" is MOMART's limited edition Christmas "Card" in the form of a handmade or sculpted gift for the year 2001, designed by British artist Mark Wallinger. It's a wrapped mixed Christmas cracker, and is accompanied by a separate plate signed information card. (see photos)

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Mark Wallinger (born 1959) is an English painter, sculptor and video artist. He studied in London at the Chelsea School of Art (1978–81) and Goldsmiths College (1983–5).
From the mid 1980s his work has addressed the traditions and values of British society, its class system and organised religion. In the early 1990s he began using a personal enthusiasm for horse racing as a theme through which to explore issues of ownership and pedigree.
In the late 1990s Wallinger shifted his focus to a questioning of institutionalised spirituality and religion. The scepticism and irreverence of his work, typical of his humorous observational approach, were downplayed in a later public sculpture commissioned for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square: Ecce Homo.
In 2001 he represented Britain at the Venice Biennale and in 2007 he was awarded the Turner Prize.

ABOUT MOMART
MOMART is a British company specialising in the storage, transportation, and installation of works of art. Today, the company is best known for two things: its annual artist Christmas Card, and a 2004 warehouse fire that destroyed irreplaceable art works including Tracey Emin's famous "Everyone I Have Ever Slept With. Momart's clients include the Royal Academy of Arts, Victoria & Albert Museum, National Gallery, Tate Modern, Tate Britain and Buckingham Palace. The tradition of the MOMART "Christmas card" (which would later morph into actual artist-designed work) goes back to 1984 when the first object – a festive card – was designed for the company by Bruce McLean. Since then Momart collaborated on this project with many of the top British and international artists. The complete series of Momart Christmas cards is now part of the permanent collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Tate. The present item is a sculpture called It's the Thought that Counts, designed by Mark Wallinger. Very cool and collectible! Unnumbered, but known to have been issued in an edition of approx. 500

Measurements:
Box
12.5 by 2 by 2 inches
Cracker
11.25 by 1.75 inches
Signed Card
10.76 by 3.5

Provenance:
Created by the artist for MOMART Inc., London; originally distributed by MOMART to its preferred clients