 On 30 December 2008, it was announced that Stoddart had been appointed Her Majesty's Sculptor in Ordinary in Scotland.Stoddart is deeply critical of modernism and contemporary art, and scornful of "public art", a phrase which makes him search for "a glass of whisky and a revolver".He has repeatedly criticised winners of the Turner Prize, such as Damien Hirst "there's plenty of them", and Tracey Emin, whom he calls "the high priestess of societal decline".