Somebody’s Son (2007) is a waxwork of the artist as a Queen’s guard in his sentry box. Resembling an oversized toy from a souvenir shop, the caricature with his absurd and darkly comic uniform and deadly machine gun stands encumbered by his huge bearskin protuberance – the artist’s face peering out from behind the chinstrap. The title embues a sense of loss, whilst these highly trained soldiers, used as cultural decoration, escape the active duty of war.

Somebody’s Son

Waxwork in wooden sentry box

Somebody’s Son (2007) is a waxwork of the artist as a Queen’s guard in his sentry box. Resembling an oversized toy from a souvenir shop, the caricature with his absurd and darkly comic uniform and deadly machine gun stands encumbered by his huge bearskin protuberance – the artist’s face peering out from behind the chinstrap. The title embues a sense of loss, whilst these highly trained soldiers, used as cultural decoration, escape the active duty of war.

Identity

Self-Portrait

Icons

Masks

Flaneur

Faces

Public Sculpture

A balloon presented on a small wooden plinth with a plaque reading ‘Gavin Turk Breathing Exercise’.

Breathing Exercise

Balloon, wax, wood, brass & string

Readymade

Manzoni

Sculpture

Installation info: To be shown on a free standing plinth, without ridge on top, unlike in photo. Previously museum wax has been used to balance sculpture upright.  If this is to be repeated take care to avoid applying this near the signature underneath as the wax will smudge it.An object that resembles a smoking pipe found and displayed by the artist in reference to Magritte & Duchamp. This readymade was found by the artist; a u-bend from a drain, a transition point between private and public waste disposal. The seal to prevent contamination of smells and germs between the individual and civic pace, the shape is also reminiscent of a toilet bowl or the philosopher’s tobacco pipe. The male accessory of traditional patriarchal values displayed as a decrepit old tube.

Drainpipe

Ceramic and cast iron

Installation info: To be shown on a free standing plinth, without ridge on top, unlike in photo. Previously museum wax has been used to balance sculpture upright. If this is to be repeated take care to avoid applying this near the signature underneath as the wax will smudge it.An object that resembles a smoking pipe found and displayed by the artist in reference to Magritte & Duchamp. This readymade was found by the artist; a u-bend from a drain, a transition point between private and public waste disposal. The seal to prevent contamination of smells and germs between the individual and civic pace, the shape is also reminiscent of a toilet bowl or the philosopher’s tobacco pipe. The male accessory of traditional patriarchal values displayed as a decrepit old tube.

Magritte

Waste

Pipes

Duchamp

Found Object

Installation info: To be shown on a free standing plinth, without ridge on top, unlike in photo. Previously museum wax has been used to balance sculpture upright. If this is to be repeated take care to avoid applying this near the signature underneath as the wax will smudge it. An object that resembles a smoking pipe found and displayed by the artist in reference to Magritte & Duchamp. This readymade was found by the artist; a u-bend from a drain, a transition point between private and public waste disposal.

Wrapped object from waste products used to make the show ‘Negotiation of Purpose’

Pile (wrapped waste)

Debris, dust sheet and rope

Rubbish

The Shining

glass, aluminium and mirror film

A polystyrene carving of a reclining woman lying on a double plinth based on De Chirico's obsessive series of paintings of the sculpture &lsquo;Ariadne&rsquo;.

Ariadne

Polystyrene balls and polymer on canvas

Polystyrene

Outsider

A polystyrene carving of a reclining woman lying on a double plinth based on De Chirico's obsessive series of paintings of the sculpture ‘Ariadne’.

Wrapped object from waste products used to make the show &lsquo;Negotiation of Purpose&rsquo;

Pile (wrapped object)

Wrapped

Appropriation

Dust sheets &amp; debris used to cover the piece Relic during an exhibition opening.

Relic (Wrapped Waste)

Cotton dust sheet, rope, twine & debris

Mixed Media

Dust sheets & debris used to cover the piece Relic during an exhibition opening.

Boddingtons

Painted bronze

Packaging

Trompe L'oeil

Debris wrapped in the dust sheets and rope used at the opening of the &lsquo;Negotiation of Purpose&rsquo; exhibition to cover the piece &lsquo;The Second Coming&rsquo;, after which this piece is titled.

The Second Coming

Debris wrapped in the dust sheets and rope used at the opening of the ‘Negotiation of Purpose’ exhibition to cover the piece ‘The Second Coming’, after which this piece is titled.

A black Honda car boot with a &lsquo;GT&rsquo; sticker, signed and dated by the artist for the Art Car Boot Fair 2007. This artwork was first created as an elaborate ruse. In the summer of 2007 Turk was invited to take part in The Art Car Boot Fair in Brick Lane, East London - An annual jamboree where artists take over the marketplace selling their bizarre wares. In this twist on the English car boot fair phenomena (where people sell their unwanted goods from the back of cars), Turk decided to take the brief at face value and literally sell a motley collection of second-hand car boots selected and adorned with the artists signature flamboyantly embellished in permanent marker. A battered relic of the motor car, itself a symbol of income and social status hangs as an artifact separated from its function. A useless flap hanging on the wall like instant archaeology as an epoch struggles to come to terms with its out of control consumer appetite. The back end of a once noble steed becomes a Moose Head on the wall.

Car Boot (Black Honda)

Car boot & marker pen

Vehicles

Ready Made

A black Honda car boot with a ‘GT’ sticker, signed and dated by the artist for the Art Car Boot Fair 2007.

Debris wrapped in the dust sheets and rope used at the opening of the &lsquo;Negotiation of Purpose&rsquo; exhibition to cover the piece &lsquo;Zeuxis and Parrhasius&rsquo;, after which this piece is titled. Every art exhibition has an &lsquo;opening&rsquo; or &lsquo;private view&rsquo;: An event which publically announces that the exhibition is open. Often in smaller exhibitions put on by galleries that have next to no marketing budget, more people attend the opening event than over the rest of the period of the exhibition. This is a very frustrating situation for the artist, who realizes (through his or her own experience) that people do not attend art openings to spend quality time with the art but to &lsquo;clock&rsquo; the art and chat to the other people. The idea of &lsquo;who&rsquo; was at the opening becomes slightly more important than &lsquo;what&rsquo; was at the opening.For the opening of his exhibition &lsquo;The Stuff Show&rsquo; at the South London Gallery 1998, as an extension of this thought and to generate a piece of thought-provoking performance art, the Artist made a controversial decision. As the visitors arrived at the opening they were confronted by the sight of eighteen pieces of art: free standing sculptures of various sizes, as well as large and small wall pieces, all elegantly covered &lsquo;Christo style&rsquo; with beige linen dustsheets. Christo is an artist who is famous for his wrapped sculptures which vary in scale and ambition from a recognizable chair form to more ambitions architectural projects such as wrapping the Reichstag in Germany. Most visitors to the private view found the event confusing or even offensive: were they not trusted to evaluate and &lsquo;see&rsquo; the art? Now they would have to find their way back to the gallery if they wished to view the actual art later on (the dustsheets were removed the next morning ready for the regular visitors).For Open House, Sherborne, the artist has represented the dustsheets from the exhibition in a perspex vitrine. The name Zeuxis and Parrhasios comes from the famous ancient Greek anecdote as retold in the book &lsquo;Stealing the Mona Lisa. What Art Stops Us From Seeing&rsquo;, by psychoanalyst Darian Leader. This is the story of two artists who compete with each other to make a great painting. Zeuxis paints some grapes that are so lifelike that they attract some birds. Parrhasios then invites him to pull back the curtain covering his own masterwork, but when Zeuxis tries to do so, he finds that the curtain itself is the painting. Zeuxis and the birds are both deceived by an image and are both frustrated by the seeming deception, perhaps more than the skill and thought that went into the image.

Zeuxis and Parrhasius (Wrapped Waste)

Debris wrapped in the dust sheets and rope used at the opening of the ‘Negotiation of Purpose’ exhibition to cover the piece ‘Zeuxis and Parrhasius’, after which this piece is titled.

Four plywood boxes printed to look like real turkey foil packaging. Pop art and the minimalism of Carl Andre meets the toilet humour of the artists and his camouflage foil. Playing puns with his name and the factory formed manufacturing of the aluminium foil box, he plays Warhol and the street off together.

Turkey Foil 

Silkscreen ink on Plywood

Foil

Silkscreen

Four plywood boxes printed to look like real turkey foil packaging. Pop art and the minimalism of Carl Andre meets the toilet humour of the artists and his camouflage foil. Playing puns with his name and the factory formed manufacturing of the aluminium foil box, he plays Warhol and the street off together.

A print of the Artist as Joseph Beuys in purple on an orange background. Printed in the style of an Andy Warhol silkscreen.

Purple On Orange Beuys (Working Title)

Silkscreen ink and metallic paint on canvas

Beuys

A print of the Artist as Joseph Beuys in purple on an orange background. Printed in the style of an Andy Warhol silkscreen.

A print of the Artist as Andy Warhol in silver grey on a camouflage background.

Camouflage Fright Wig Silver Grey

Camouflage

Warhol

A print of the Artist as Andy Warhol in silver grey on a camouflage background.

A bronze cast of a polystyrene cup with the top part torn off, painted to look real.

The Wall Torn Down

Cups

A bronze cast of a polystyrene cup with the top part torn off, painted to look real.

A double print of the Artist as Elvis Presley, one side in grey on a white background, and the other in white on a black background. Printed in the style of an Andy Warhol silkscreen.

Elvis Diptych

Elvis

A double print of the Artist as Elvis Presley, one side in grey on a white background, and the other in white on a black background. Printed in the style of an Andy Warhol silkscreen.

A print of the Artist as Elvis Presley in white with diamond dust on a white background. Printed in the style of an Andy Warhol silkscreen.

White Diamond Elvis

Silkscreen on canvas with diamond dust 

A print of the Artist as Elvis Presley in white with diamond dust on a white background. Printed in the style of an Andy Warhol silkscreen.

An eternally spinning two pence coin on a table top.

50 / 50

Table & motorised 2 pence piece

Automaton

Money

Domestic

An eternally spinning two pence coin on a table top.

A carving of a candle made from the top of an old broom handle.

Dumb Candle

Wood & paint

Fire

A carving of a candle made from the top of an old broom handle.

Forty wooden boxes printed to look like real turkey foil packaging, in a floor formation.

Pop art and the minimalism of Carl Andre meets the toilet humour of the artists and his camouflage foil. Playing puns with his name and the factory formed manufacturing of the aluminium foil box, he plays Warhol and the street off together. Turkey Foil ‘extra wide’ printed again and again on crafted, painted wooden boxes.

Turkey Foil Box XL

Forty wooden boxes printed to look like real turkey foil packaging, in a floor formation. Pop art and the minimalism of Carl Andre meets the toilet humour of the artists and his camouflage foil. Playing puns with his name and the factory formed manufacturing of the aluminium foil box, he plays Warhol and the street off together. Turkey Foil ‘extra wide’ printed again and again on crafted, painted wooden boxes.

A print of the Artist as Andy Warhol in black on a red, blue and pale green camouflage background.

Camouflage Fright Wig Red and Blue on Pale Green 

A print of the Artist as Andy Warhol in black on a red, blue and pale green camouflage background.

A map of the world cut from what appears to be paint peeled from a wall, mounted on paper and framed.

Staring at the wall with an unfocused eye, while the brain is working something else – perhaps sitting on the toilet or maybe taking a break from gazing at the computer screen, the brain finds patterns and forms in peeling paintwork of details of brushstrokes. The daydreaming reverie finding the country map, a cultural shape more symbolic and timeless than the flag. Islands drawn out in the peeling paint like distant memories of once Great Nations.

Before The World Was Round (2)

Acrylic paint peel on paper

Maps

Work on paper

A map of the world cut from what appears to be paint peeled from a wall, mounted on paper and framed. Staring at the wall with an unfocused eye, while the brain is working something else – perhaps sitting on the toilet or maybe taking a break from gazing at the computer screen, the brain finds patterns and forms in peeling paintwork of details of brushstrokes. The daydreaming reverie finding the country map, a cultural shape more symbolic and timeless than the flag. Islands drawn out in the peeling paint like distant memories of once Great Nations.

Before The World Was Round

A double print of the Artist as Elvis Presley in black on a black background. Printed in the style of an Andy Warhol silkscreen.

Black Double

A double print of the Artist as Elvis Presley in black on a black background. Printed in the style of an Andy Warhol silkscreen.

An object that resembles a smoking pipe found and displayed by the artist in reference to Magritte &amp; Duchamp. This readymade was found by the artist; a u-bend from a drain, a transition point between private and public waste disposal. The seal to prevent contamination of smells and germs between the individual and civic pace, the shape is also reminiscent of a toilet bowl or the philosopher&rsquo;s tobacco pipe. The male accessory of traditional patriarchal values displayed as a decrepit old tube.

Found object on a plinth

Fool

An object that resembles a smoking pipe found and displayed by the artist in reference to Magritte & Duchamp. This readymade was found by the artist; a u-bend from a drain, a transition point between private and public waste disposal. The seal to prevent contamination of smells and germs between the individual and civic pace, the shape is also reminiscent of a toilet bowl or the philosopher’s tobacco pipe. The male accessory of traditional patriarchal values displayed as a decrepit old tube.

A used yellow screen printing screen with a washed out black image of the Artist as Elvis.This used screen, a by-product of the process of making images, is re-presented in the gallery as a finished artwork with the ghost of the artist as Elvis barely discernable. A residue of a previous artwork series, the process is brought to the forefront; the repetition fades away.

Faded Glory

Faded screen ink, silkscreen & aluminium

A used yellow screen printing screen with a washed out black image of the Artist as Elvis.This used screen, a by-product of the process of making images, is re-presented in the gallery as a finished artwork with the ghost of the artist as Elvis barely discernable. A residue of a previous artwork series, the process is brought to the forefront; the repetition fades away.

A turkey foil box printed 56 times (four rows of fourteen) onto canvas.Pop art and the minimalism of Carl Andre meets the toilet humour of the artists and his camouflage foil. Playing puns with his name and the factory formed manufacturing of the aluminium foil box, he plays Warhol and the street off together.

Turkey Foiled

A turkey foil box printed 56 times (four rows of fourteen) onto canvas.Pop art and the minimalism of Carl Andre meets the toilet humour of the artists and his camouflage foil. Playing puns with his name and the factory formed manufacturing of the aluminium foil box, he plays Warhol and the street off together.

Somebody’s Son

Breathing Exercise

Drainpipe

Pile (wrapped waste)

The Shining

Ariadne

Pile (wrapped object)

Relic (Wrapped Waste)

Boddingtons

The Second Coming

Car Boot (Black Honda)

Zeuxis and Parrhasius (Wrapped Waste)

Turkey Foil

Purple On Orange Beuys (Working Title)

Camouflage Fright Wig Silver Grey

The Wall Torn Down

Elvis Diptych

White Diamond Elvis

50 / 50

Dumb Candle

Turkey Foil Box XL

Camouflage Fright Wig Red and Blue on Pale Green

Before The World Was Round

Black Double

Drainpipe

Faded Glory

Turkey Foiled

Turk Foil

Turkey Foil Box

Alias