The BRIT Awards 2018 with Mastercard today announce that acclaimed creative visionary Sir Anish Kapoor is the designer of the 2018 award.

With a remarkable career spanning four decades, Kapoor is regarded as one of the most prominent British-Indian sculptors of his generation, with an inimitable portfolio of work that has garnered him several prestigious awards and accolades including the Turner Prize, the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and the Padma Bhushan (India's third highest civilian honour), as well as the LennonOno Grant for Peace and the Genesis Prize.

The 2018 BRITs award design will represent a triumph for British creativity and innovation, and embodies Kapoor's unique artistic vision, which has generated a wealth of critical attention and praise globally. Prominent international exhibitions have seen his work displayed in Paris, Madrid, Ottawa, Munich, Milan, Boston and London (Kapoor was the first living artist to have a solo exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts), and public sculptures installed in Chicago, New York, Jerusalem and Paris.

Kapoor is also famously known for his groundbreaking contribution to the London 2012 Olympic Games; his design of the 178m high sculpture ArcelorMittal Orbit, which is still located in London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and is Britain's largest piece of public art.

His appointment as the 2018 BRITs award designer – the first sculptor to be endowed with this honour - succeeds the world-renowned architect Dame Zaha Hadid, whose elegant and pioneering creativity formed the 2017 BRITs trophy.  BRITs Chairman and Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Jason Iley, who initiated the appointment of both Hadid and Kapoor, hoped to create pieces of art in their own respect – thus rewarding the creativity of artists in the music industry with a bespoke award. 

BRITs Chairman and Chairman & CEO of Sony Music UK and Ireland Jason Iley said:
"Sir Anish has created some of the most adventurous and memorable works of our life time which is reflected in the new BRIT award. He constantly pushes boundaries and challenges the norm and I love the way he has reimagined this year's award. The beauty of this award is that it challenges perspectives.  Every which way you look at it, you discover more." 

Sir Anish Kapoor said:
"I am pleased to have designed the BRIT award for 2018.  Sculpture is often a process of positive and negative form.  I have made the award using both."   

The BRIT Awards 2018 with Mastercard will be broadcast live on ITV - Wednesday 21st February from London's O2 Arena.

Mastercard is celebrating its 20th year as headline sponsor of the BRIT Awards, and continues its sponsorship of the much sought-after Mastercard Album of the Year Award.