Keith Tyson

Keith Tyson, born Keith Thomas Bower on August 23, 1969, is an English artist. He won the prestigious Turner Prize in 2002 and works with various media, such as painting, drawing, and installation.

Growing up, Tyson moved to Dalton-in-Furness at the age of four and took his stepfather's surname. He showed a natural talent and interest in art at an early age and was inspired by his primary school art teacher. However, he left school at 15 without any qualifications and worked as a fitter and turner for VSEL (now BAE Systems) in Barrow-in-Furness.

In 1989, Tyson began an art foundation course at Carlisle College of Art, and the following year, he moved south to study on an experimental Alternative Practice degree at the University of Brighton's Faculty of Arts and Architecture from 1990 to 1993.

During the 1990s, Tyson's work focused on the Artmachine, a method he developed to explore his interest in randomness, causality, and the creation of things. The Artmachine used computer programmes, flow charts, and books to generate chance combinations of words and ideas that Tyson would then turn into artworks in various media. Tyson's earliest exhibited works, known as The Artmachine Iterations, established his reputation as an original artist and thinker in the UK and internationally, leading to solo exhibitions in London, New York, Paris, and Zürich and group shows throughout Europe, North America, and Australia.