The Unveiling

Oil on canvas and spolight

Art History

Mythology

Artist

De Chirico Sky

Oil and acrylic on canvas

Clouds

Holy Egg (Dichroic Medium)

Acrylic paint and diamond dust on canvas

Eggs

Icons

Signatures

Painting

Self Portrait (Fountain)

Bronze, heating element, pump, water, stones

Self Portrait (Fountain) (2012), is inspired by a 1993 Arte Povera self portrait by Alighiero Boetti positioned in the artist’s signature stance. The gun from Pop is replaced here by a hose drizzling water onto the figures bald bronze pate. The result is a self-deprecating recycled artwork of a clown-like portrait – with steam emanating from its hot head. In this iteration Turk uses pathos to question originality.

Masks

Self-Portrait

Faces

Sculpture

Hand gun section taken from Pop image in black on gold

Pop Gun Gold

Diamond dust and acrylic paint on canvas

Warhol

Silkscreen

A poster of Elvis Presley with a check background painted in by the Artist.

The Pebble (Chequered Background)

Acrylic on poster

Elvis

Identity

Collages

Work on paper

A paint brush and two rollers dipped in emulsion and left in a paint tray, presented in a museum grade vitrine made of mahogany and glass.Having recognized white emulsion paint as the background canvas &ndash; the theatre backdrop of contemporary art &ndash; the Artist then put his mind to the tool that is used to apply the paint. This first piece was a wooden museum vitrine made in 1995 called &lsquo;Paint, Two Rollers and a Brush&rsquo;. This was a homage to the cultural significance or archeological importance of the gallery decorator and his tools. Displayed in the cabinet were several used objects straight out of the recently repainted gallery exactly as their title suggests. They are fresh and curious in their isolation. Looking at them through the imaginary eyes of an alien they appear angular and precise. Specialised tools for a specialized job. The most angular and specialized of all is the paint roller. A bent and twisted mark-making tool that covers a wall in white faster than you can blink. Cast in bronze &ndash; the traditional material of &lsquo;Great Sculpture&rsquo; &ndash; the tool then becomes heavy and significant, instead of light and useful, allowing the viewer to study the detail of the everyday object: the tufts of the sheepskin roller, the ingeniously designed bent handle.

Paint, Two Rollers and Brush

Roller, brush, paint tray & paint in vitrine

Readymade

Domestic

Ready Made

A paint brush and two rollers dipped in emulsion and left in a paint tray, presented in a museum grade vitrine made of mahogany and glass.

A vacform plastic reproduction of the artist's original blue plaque installation of the same title.

Cave

Silkscreen on plastic

Celebrity

Death

Blighty 

A vacform plastic reproduction of the artist's original blue plaque installation of the same title.

Cave (edition)

A photographic mock-up of the cover of ‘Hello!’ magazine showing the Artist and his family, presented in a glass top vitrine.

Hello

Colour copy, acrylic, steel and cloth

Consume

Photographic Work

A photographic mock-up of the cover of &lsquo;Hello!&rsquo; magazine showing the Artist and his family, presented in a glass top vitrine.

A three panel painting of the artists signature entirely made from recycled materials with information about the materials used hand-sewn in the bottom right corner. Produced while studying at the Royal College, this was Turk’s first signature-based work. Being a student at the time, his signature was worth little in the art world and, as the artist’s signature was brazenly the painting’s only subject, Turk expected some viewers to take exception to such a provocative art work. To counter these reactions, Turk made the work from recycled materials and employed a medieval string-and-peg process to stretch the canvas, avoiding staples and environmentally damaging adhesives. He even planted a tree to replace the recycled timber. The construction process was explained as a small label onto the canvas: nobody could criticise the work for being a waste of resources. In essence, the piece took nothing from the world and gave nothing back, except the artist labour.

Title

Lead free pigment on canvas

A three panel painting of the artists signature entirely made from recycled materials with information about the materials used hand-sewn in the bottom right corner.Produced while studying at the Royal College, this was Turk’s first signature-based work. Being a student at the time, his signature was worth little in the art world and, as the artist’s signature was brazenly the painting’s only subject, Turk expected some viewers to take exception to such a provocative art work. To counter these reactions, Turk made the work from recycled materials and employed a medieval string-and-peg process to stretch the canvas, avoiding staples and environmentally damaging adhesives. He even planted a tree to replace the recycled timber. The construction process was explained as a small label onto the canvas: nobody could criticise the work for being a waste of resources. In essence, the piece took nothing from the world and gave nothing back, except the artist labour.

Recycling

A three panel painting of the artists signature entirely made from recycled materials with information about the materials used hand-sewn in the bottom right corner. Produced while studying at the Royal College, this was Turk’s first signature-based work. Being a student at the time, his signature was worth little in the art world and, as the artist’s signature was brazenly the painting’s only subject, Turk expected some viewers to take exception to such a provocative art work.