Gavin Turk, Zwei Kerzen Löschen, 2023

* denotes required fields

In order to respond to your enquiry, we will process the personal data you have supplied to communicate with you in accordance with our Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time by clicking the link in our emails. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google: Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

This website uses cookies
This site uses cookies to help make it more useful to you. Please contact us to find out more about our Cookie Policy.

* denotes required fields

oil on canvas

80 x 60 x 2.5 cm
31 1/2 x 23 5/8 x 1 in

In the 1980s, the German painter Gerhard Richter painted one of his most notable photorealistic series Kerze, which depicts lit candles amidst minimalist, muted interior spaces. British artist Gavin Turk reimagines these works by blowing out their flames; capturing the candles the moment they’re extinguished with their smoky trails frozen in permanence.

Turk’s work often confronts notions of authorship with cunning humor and poignancy, making him a figurehead of the Young British Artists who found their footing in the late 80s and 90s. Often drawing on several art historical references, Turk’s additional artistic prowess in various mediums makes him a multifaceted artist, all of which is exemplary in his Magritte-esque take on the Kerze paintings.

Rendered in the same muted photorealistic style as Richter, the paintings play with authenticity and touch on notions of memento mori: “The candle is a metaphysical symbol, it is a clock, it is a guide, the lit flame is a burning energetic sprite, putting it out creates smoke, an afterlife, a holy ghost, a veil, a messenger.”

Gavin Turk United Kingdom, b. 1967

Join our mailing list

Maruani Mercier

Privacy Policy

Contact

Cookie preferences

Join our mailing list

Gavin Turk United Kingdom, b. 1967