Lucy Skaer is showing a work called Leviathan Edge, which is the partial skeleton of a male sperm whale, including its skull, visible through narrow slits in a wall.

Richard Wright, who specialises in wall paintings, has adorned a room at Tate Britain in London with a symmetrical pattern in gold leaf.

Yesterday, opponents of the annual award, who call themselves “Stuckists”, stood outside the gallery on the River Thames where the award exhibition is staged and called for the “tired” and “exhausted” show to be scrapped.

However Lizzie Carey-Thomas, the curator of the show -- which precedes the announcement of the overall winner -- defended the prize, which dates back to 1984 and has been won by many famous artists such as Gilbert & George, Richard Long, Anish Kapoor and Damien Hirst.

“Art has more of a place in contemporary British culture than ever before,” she said.

“I think last year we had 90,000 visitors to the show, which was the highest for a number of years. The YBAs (Young British Artists) helped to popularise contemporary art and bring it to a new audience, although the art has moved on since then.”

Skaer is the only woman among the four nominees.

Apart from the whale bone, her work in the exhibition includes tall, black, skittle-like sculptures made with coal dust and arranged in rows and in a pile on the floor.

Both Skaer and Wright attended Glasgow School of Art and are based in the city.

“Lucy Skaer is slowing down the art of looking. You can’t just grasp the art in once glance,” said Carey-Thomas.

Also on the shortlist for the Turner Prize is Italian-born artist Enrico David, who has made sculptures, paintings and papier-mache “eggmen” described by the exhibition as a “parade of unruly characters” that represent the artist himself.

Finally, Richard Hiorns has covered half of a gallery floor with the black and grey metal dust of an atomised passenger aircraft engine.

Previous winners have included Grayson Perry, a cross-dressing potter, and Martin Creed, whose installation in 2001 featured lights going on and off in an empty room. Last year’s winner was Mark Leckey, whose exhibition included cartoon characters Homer Simpson, Garfield and Felix the Cat.

The winner of the prize, worth £25,000, will be announced on December 7.

Hiorns is the bookmakers’ early favourite to triumph.