LONDON AP Chris Ofili notorious for incorporating lumps of elephant dung in his paintings on Tuesday was awarded this year's Turner Prize the most high-profile award of the contemporary art year. Ofili 30 from Manchester is the first painter to win the prize for at least 12 years. He mixes hip hop pornographic and Biblical references in his multi-layered and detailed work which incorporates balls of elephant dung in every painting. If they are not stuck to the canvas the lacquered fist-sized balls support each painting's lower edge as they are propped on the floor. The Turner Prize open to British artists under 50 exhibiting during the previous 12 months carries a 20000 pound dlrs 33000 cash award. This year's other short-listed artists were all female sculptor Cathy de Monchaux and video installation artists Tacita Dean and Sam Taylor-Wood. Although short lists invariably include a painter the prize has more often been won by sculptors or conceptual artists including Rachel Whiteread's inside-out room 1993 Anish Kapoor's organic shapes 1991 and Damien Hirst's pickled cows 1995. The previous two years had been triumphs for video artists Gillian Wearing ``police officers'' posing for 20 minutes 1997 and Douglas Gordon two hands fighting 1996. APW19981201.1087.txt.body.html APW19981201.0476.txt.body.html