The East Finchley founder of a maverick art movement draped himself in fairylights and led a day-long protest against the Turner Prize outside Tate Britain last week.

Artist Charles Thomson and a small group of fellow “Stuckists” held their eighth annual demonstration against the prize, which they condemn as a “tired national joke”.

The group held signs claiming: “The Turner Prize is c**p” and handed out leaflets claiming: “The Turner Prize is an annual media circus created by the Tate gallery in order to showcase the most bland and pretentious art currently produced in Britain”.

Mr Thomson, 55, from Manor Cottages Approach, said: “The majority of artists in this country are figurative painters, yet none is represented.

“The Turner Prize is a narrow and prejudiced approach to art. It’s a waste of public money.

“The prize is symptomatic of an administration that has grown stale and complacent and is in need of regeneration.”

Among the visitors given a Stuckist pack containing a button, leaflet and catalogue of Stuckist work, were Germaine Greer, broadcaster Julia Somerville, fashion designer Zandra Rhodes and past Turner Prize winner Grayson Perry.

“Almost everyone accepted it,” said Mr Thomson. “But maybe that’s because the pack looked quite official — until you read the bottom of it and saw the words: ‘The Turner Prize is c**p’.

“A lot of people just laughed, some people threw it away and Germaine Greer looked very confused.

“I’m pretty sure Grayson Perry took one.

“He has said before that the Stuckists’ demonstrations lent a festive air to the Turner Prize, so he would probably have appreciated it.”

Founded in 1999, Stuckism is a controversial art group dedicated to pro-contemporary figurative painting, which regularly campaigns against the Turner Prize.

Having attained international recognition, the Stuckists’ leaflets can be found in the Tate archive.