Gavin Turk is born in 1967 in Guildford, United Kingdom. In 1991 he was denied his MA certificate from the Royal College of Art for his degree show presentation, Cave, which consisted of an empty white studio with a blue English Heritage plaque installed, which simply bore the inscription "Borough of Kensington / GAVIN TURK / Sculptor / Worked Here 1989-1991."

Member of the Young British Artists, Turk’s oeuvre deals with issues of authenticity and identity, engaged with modernist and avant-garde debates surrounding the ‘myth’ of the artist and the ‘authorship’ of a work of art. He has pioneered many forms of contemporary British sculpture now taken for granted, including the painted bronze, the waxwork, the recycled art-historical icon and the use of rubbish in art. Turk works primarily in bronze and wax sculptures, although he makes forays into photography and silkscreen. 

His work has been exhibited in over 50 solo shows internationally as well as many major curated exhibitions from institutions such as the Tate Modern, London and the Royal Academy of Arts, London. He is present in public collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; and the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Turk works in London.