Gavin Turk

Overview

Squeeze It Orange Drink, Bio & Me Nutty and Seedy Granola, Stainswick Rapeseed Oil, Ecover Toilet Cleaner, Ocado Ground Cinnamon, Scala Vegan Basil Pesto, 2023, oil on linen, 46 x 61.3 x 2 cm

I don't think I ever really decided I was an artist. I went to college to learn how to think and look at art. In the end, I developed a more sophisticated misunderstanding of art. – Gavin Turk

Gavin Turk's installations and sculptures playfully recontextualize everyday objects, addressing issues of authorship, authenticity, and identity.

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Biography

When I was in college I thought of making up a fictive artist and giving him a name and a body of work. Eventually I came around to the idea of using my own name, which had this strange distancing effect, similar to using a found object. Being a Turk was quite interesting because in a sense it was like being a foreigner. – Gavin Turk

Gavin Turk is a pioneer in contemporary British sculpture known for his painted bronze, waxworks, the recycled art-historical icon, and the use of rubbish in art. Turk’s installations and sculptures deal with issues of authorship, authenticity and identity. Concerned with the ‘myth’ of the artist and the ‘authorship’ of a work, Turk’s engagement with this modernist, avant-garde debate stretches back to the readymades of Marcel Duchamp. In 1991, the Royal College of Art refused Turk a degree on the basis that his final show, ‘Cave’, consisted of a whitewashed studio space containing only a blue heritage plaque commemorating his presence...

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Works

Gavin Turk
Squeeze It Orange Drink, Bio & Me Nutty and Seedy Granola, Stainswick Rapeseed Oil, Ecover Toilet Cleaner, Ocado Ground Cinnamon, Scala Vegan Basil Pesto, 2023 (n)
oil on linen
46 x 61.3 x 2 cm
18 1/8 x 24 1/8 x 3/4 in
Gavin Turk
Eine Kerze Brennt Noch, 2023
oil on canvas
80 x 60 x 2.5 cm
31 1/2 x 23 5/8 x 1 in
Gavin Turk
Herbstkerzen, 2023
oil on canvas
80 x 60 x 2.5 cm
31 1/2 x 23 5/8 x 1 in
Gavin Turk
Zwei Kerzen Löschen, 2023
oil on canvas
80 x 60 x 2.5 cm
31 1/2 x 23 5/8 x 1 in
Gavin Turk
Tesco Table Salt, Scala Vegan Basil Pesto, Aspall Red Wine Vinegar, Ecover Toilet Cleaner, Dr Bronner's Organic 18-in-1 Rose Pure-Castile Soap, 2023
oil on linen
30.5 x 38 cm
12 x 15 in
Gavin Turk
Tesco Table Salt, Waitrose Granola, Varnish Carpet Shampoo, Squeeze It Orange Drink, 2023
oil on linen
30 x 35 cm
11 3/4 x 13 3/4 in
framed: 47.5 x 56.5 x 7.5 cm
Gavin Turk
Dr Bronner's Organic 18-in-1 Rose Pure-Castile Soap, Yeo Valley Organic Whole Milk, Duvel Belgium Strong Blond, Maldon Sea Salt Flakes, Vita Chrysanthemum Tea Drink, 2023
oil on linen
40 x 45 x 2 cm
15 3/4 x 17 3/4 x 3/4 in
Gavin Turk
Thai Dragon Sriracha Hot Chilli Sauce, Ecover Toilet Cleaner, Scala Vegan Basil Pesto, Stainswick Rapeseed Oil, Tesco Table Salt, 2023
oil on linen
45 x 55 x 2 cm
17 3/4 x 21 5/8 x 3/4 in
Gavin Turk
Zwei Kerzen (Grün), 2023
oil on canvas
80 x 60 x 2.5 cm
31 1/2 x 23 5/8 x 1 in
Gavin Turk
Giraffe, 2021
painted bronze
18 x 20.5 x 25 cm
7 1/8 x 8 1/8 x 9 7/8 inches
Gavin Turk
Ovum Black Umber, 2019
bronze
58 x 58 x 80 cm
22 13/16 x 22 13/16 x 31 7/16 in
plinth H80 x 85 x 85 cm
total dimensions H138 x 85 x 85 cm
Gavin Turk
Pink Grid, 2018
painted bronze
29.6 x 29.5 x 5 cm
11 10/16 x 11 9/16 x 1 15/16 in
Gavin Turk
Painting of a Dustbin, 2018
painted bronze
68 x 46.7 x 45.3 cm
26 12/16 x 18 6/16 x 17 13/16 in
Gavin Turk
Oeuvre (Verdigris) , 2018
patinated bronze
148 x 203 x 148 cm
58 4/16 x 79 14/16 x 58 4/16 in
Gavin Turk
Holy Egg (Small Green), 2017
acrylic paint on canvas
58 x 41.5 cm
22 13/16 x 16 5/16 in
Gavin Turk
Holy Egg (Blue), 2015
acrylic on canvas
114.5 x 82 cm
45 1/16 x 32 4/16 in
Gavin Turk
Fright Wig Aluminium, 2014
Silkscreen on canvas
100 x 100 cm
39 5/16 x 39 5/16 in
Gavin Turk
Brillo, 2003
painted bronze
49.3 x 28 x 45.4 cm
19 6/16 x 11 1/16 x 17 13/16 in
Gavin Turk
Nomad, 2002
painted bronze
36 x 165 x 81 cm
14 2/16 x 64 15/16 x 31 14/16 in