Gavin Turk (born 1967)

In 1991, tutors at the Royal College of Art refused to present Gavin Turk with his postgraduate degree, he also had a version of it made by one of the companies who make blue plaques for English Heritage and this is in the Tate collection.

He has subsequently produced an extensive body of work, which purports to question the value and integrity of a hermetic artistic identity. Turk was considered to be one of the group of artists known as the Young British Artists.

Practice

right|thumb|150px|Gavin Turk, Death of Marat de Sade, 1999, Iris print image,

Turk's wide ranging practice often incorporates iconic images of figures taken from popular culture and art historical sources. A series of detailed life-sized waxworks, incorporating the artist's own appearance, features the artist assuming various poses as different characters, including Sid Vicious, Jean-Paul Marat, and the Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara.

Turk has appropriated recognisable elements from artists such as Jacques-Louis David, Yves Klein, Marcel Duchamp, Andy Warhol, René Magritte, Alighiero Boetti, Robert Morris (artist), Jasper Johns and The Death of Marat painting by Jacques-Louis David. A set of what appeared to be classic posters of Che Guevara in a beret, again revealed themselves on further scrutiny to be photos of Turk himself.

In May 2011, Turk's first large-scale, 12-metre public sculpture was unveiled between the One New Change City mall, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel, and St Paul's Cathedral.

In 2017 Turk placed an unofficial blue plaque commemorating Damien Hirst at Newport Street Gallery in London.

In June 2021, Gavin Turk's L'Âge d'Or, 2021, a larger than life bronze painted door, was installed opposite the Fenix Museum, as part of Sculpture International Rotterdam.

In September 2021, Gavin Turk made a piece called Piscio D'Artista whereby he canned his own urine and sold it for its weight in silver through Kickstarter, as an homage to Piero Manzoni's 1961 art piece Artist's Shit Merda D'Artista, in which Manzoni canned his own excrement and sold it for its weight in gold.

Notable Artworks

Turk's work often challenge notions of authenticity, authorship and identity. Several of his works have received critical attention.

  • Cave (1991) - a blue heritage plaque commemorating Gavin Turk himself, installed in his graduation show at the Royal College of Art. The piece was the reason the RCA refused to aware him a degree and has since become one of his most discussed works.
  • Pop (1993) - a life-sized waxwork of the artist as Sid Vicious in the style of Andy Warhol's Elvis Presley paintings
  • Death of Marat (1998) - a waxwork of the artist as Jean Paul Marat on his death bed, based on the painting of the same name by Jacques-Louis David.
  • Nomad (2002) - a bronze sculpture of a sleeping bag cast in patina bronze, referencing homelessness, presence and absence, and the romanticised image of the artist.
  • Bum (2000) - a life sized waxwork of the artist imitating a homeless person
  • Bin Bag series (2000-2006) - a series of bronze cast bin bags painted to look real.
  • Dumb Candle (2007) - a carving of a candle made from the top of an old broom handle, in 2007 Turk won the Charle Wollaston Award for the sculpture.

Exhibitions

thumb|right|100px|Gavin Turk, Bag, 2000thumb|left|100px|Gavin Turk, Bum, 1998Turk has exhibited widely internationally. His solo exhibitions include 'L'Amour Fou', David Nolan Gallery, New York City (2013), 'Türk', Galerist, Istanbul, Turkey (2012), 'Gavin & Turk', Ben Brown Gallery, London (2013), 'Jack Shit!', Aeroplastics, Brussels, Belgium (2011), 'Before The World Was Round', Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna, Austria (2011) and 'En Face', Galerie Almine Rech, Paris, France (2010), 'The Mirror Stage', Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa (2009), 'Burnt Out', Kunsthaus Baselland, Basel, Switzerland (2008), 'Piss Off', Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna, Austria (2008) and 'Negotiation of Purpose', GEM Museum for Contemporary Art, The Hague, Netherlands (2007). Additionally, Turk has had solo exhibitions at Sean Kelly Gallery, New York (2005), the New Art Centre Sculpture Park and Gallery, Salisbury, England (2003), the New Art Gallery in Walsall, England (2002), and "The Stuff Show" at South London Gallery (1998).

Recent group exhibitions include 'Street', New Art gallery Walsall (2012), 'Made in Britain: Contemporary Art from the British Council Collection', Sichuan (2012), 'Deja-vu? The Art of Copying from Dürer to You Tube', Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, Germany (2012), 'Twenty', Aurel Scheibler, Berlin, Germany (2012), 'The Art of Chess', Bendigo Gallery; University of Queensland Art Museum, Australia (2012), 'Identity Theft', Mimmo scognamiglio Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy (2010), 'Pop Life: Art in a Material World', Tate Modern, London (2009), 'The Third Dimension, Whitechapel Art Gallery', London (2009), 'DLA Piper Series: This is Sculpture', Tate Liverpool, Liverpool (2009), Turk has also been involved in "teach-in" events such as "The Che Gavara [sic] Story" (2001).

Politics

In August 2014, Turk was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue.

In November 2018, Turk was one of 82 people arrested during a coordinated occupation of five bridges in Central London. The demonstration which was co-ordinated by Extinction Rebellion, was to raise the awareness of climate change. Turk said, "It seems like everyone is in an odd sense of denial about climate change."

The House of Fairy Tales

In 2007 Turk established, with his partner Deborah Curtis, The House of Fairy Tales, a children's arts charity based in London, that brings together hundreds of artists, performers, actors, writers and philosophers to deliver theatrical events, guides and exhibitions. The project continues to further community education projects based around, supported by, and advocating art. The House of Fairy Tales tour the country in a mobile gallery horse box which made its festival debut at the 2008 Crunch Festival in Hay-on-Wye. In 2009, they appeared at the Glastonbury Festival. In the summer of 2009, The House of Fairy Tales also staged The Long Weekend, a pop-up festival for all ages, hosted by Tate Modern.

Awards

thumb|Gavin Turk in 2001

In 2001, Turk was awarded the Jack Goldhill Sculpture Prize for his work Bag (2000) by the Royal Academy of Arts, London, who in 2007 also awarded him the Charles Wollaston award for his work Dumb Candle (2007), a carving of a candle made from the top of an old broom handle.

Professorship

Turk was awarded an honorary doctorate in Arts, University of East London in 2010. He held the post of professor of Art and Design 2012–2020 at Bath Spa University.

Notes and references

  • The Official Site for Gavin Turk
  • The Official Site for The House of Fairy Tales
  • Clippings from an interview by David Barrett
  • Gavin Turk at Sculpture.org.uk
  • BAe/Marconi and the Millennium Dome
  • Video of panel debate with Gavin Turk
  • Gavin Turk talks to www.theartnewspaper.tv about Duck Rabbit at Frieze 2009
  • Gavin Turk on BBC4, discussing the impact of Charles Saatchi on the modern art world
  • Gavin Turk discussing The House of Fairy Tales with The Guardian newspaper
  • Gavin Turk Transit Disaster at Paul Stolper Gallery, London 2012