This sculpture in the Station Square set against the colonnade of Cambridge Station generates echoes of a Giorgio de Chirico painting, playing with the Italian artist’s metaphysical, surreal cityscapes. At first glance to be an object covered in a dust sheet and bound with rope, on further inspection it becomes apparent that this sculpture is a trompe l’oeil and the coy cloth covering is forever fixed, the temporary surface permanent.The shape of the covered object suggests a reclining figure, in an archetypal prone pose, the mythical Ariadne saviour of Theseus now abandoned on the island of Naxos, from this classical story of forces beyond humanity. Now presented as a packaged shape forever in transportation, informed by the sound of the train the parcel lies in limbo. The criss-cross of ropes and string act like compositional or navigation lines, pointers to new perspectives.Art historically the wrapped work reminds the viewer of other artworks namely by Christo and Jean-Claude, Man Ray and even Henry Moore.In 2011 Gavin Turk installed Nail, a 12-metre bronze sculpture of a giant rusty nail protruding from the pavement, in front of St Pauls Cathedral, and in 2016 the Artist installed L’Âge d’Or a ‘larger than life’ painted bronze door in Queen Elizabeth Park. These works including the newly placed ‘Ariadne Wrapped’ are surreal symbols, that invite the audience inside a larger metaphysical maze. &nbsp;

Cast bronze on Portland stone plinth

Ariadne

Art History

Sculpture

This sculpture in the Station Square set against the colonnade of Cambridge Station generates echoes of a Giorgio de Chirico painting, playing with the Italian artist’s metaphysical, surreal cityscapes. At first glance to be an object covered in a dust sheet and bound with rope, on further inspection it becomes apparent that this sculpture is a trompe l’oeil and the coy cloth covering is forever fixed, the temporary surface permanent.

Ariadne Wrapped

Ariadne Wrapped Maquette

Ariadne (Wrapped Waste)

Public Sculpture

Installation info: Handle carefully with gloves, ensuring when placed it is done so gently as painted edges are fragile. Ensure signed underside is face down.  Avoid direct sunlight, temperature fluctuations and moisture.

H.M.S Ariadne

Painted bronze

Trompe L'oeil

Waste

Packaging

Painted Bronze

Installation info: Handle carefully with gloves, ensuring when placed it is done so gently as painted edges are fragile. Ensure signed underside is face down. Avoid direct sunlight, temperature fluctuations and moisture.

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;.

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’.

Installation info: Handle carefully with gloves, ensuring when placed it is done so gently as painted edges are fragile. Ensure signed underside is face down. Avoid direct sunlight, temperature fluctuations and moisture. A tiny security pin can fix the underside of the piece to a surface if required for installation.A bronze cast of a curved, browning apple core with large pips and red skin, painted to look real. Eaten and then thrown away, Turk takes the discarded, shrivelled and dead and gives it new life in the form of miniature painted bronze sculptures. Heavy with the symbolism of an English Eden, these once ripe fruits, alongside their associations with knowledge and temptation, Adam’s apple and of course, Eve, have been discarded and tossed away. Now “rotten to the core”, the fruits of the utopian English garden have become a poisonous symbol of man’s fall. Or perhaps they are nothing more ominous than evidence of a healthy diet in which their daily consumption contains the promise to keep the doctor away.

Apples

Mythology

Installation info: Handle carefully with gloves, ensuring when placed it is done so gently as painted edges are fragile. Ensure signed underside is face down. Avoid direct sunlight, temperature fluctuations and moisture. A tiny security pin can fix the underside of the piece to a surface if required for installation.A bronze cast of a curved, browning apple core with large pips and red skin, painted to look real.

Ariadne (2006–2014) is a bronze sculpture painted to look like a crudely carved polystyrene approximation

of the Greek Goddess. The Italian metaphysical painter De Chirico used this reclining symbol as an archetype

of classicism in a series of surreal landscapes. By appearing to render her in this pernicious 20th century material, the artist makes a punkish throw-up in the consecrated gallery. In a nod to Tony Hancock’s ‘The Rebel’, he questions value and the history of western traditions through the degenerated male gaze.

Ariadne (2006–2014) is a bronze sculpture painted to look like a crudely carved polystyrene approximationof the Greek Goddess. The Italian metaphysical painter De Chirico used this reclining symbol as an archetypeof classicism in a series of surreal landscapes. By appearing to render her in this pernicious 20th century material, the artist makes a punkish throw-up in the consecrated gallery. In a nod to Tony Hancock’s ‘The Rebel’, he questions value and the history of western traditions through the degenerated male gaze.

Ariadne (2006–2014) is a bronze sculpture painted to look like a crudely carved polystyrene approximation of the Greek Goddess. The Italian metaphysical painter De Chirico used this reclining symbol as an archetype of classicism in a series of surreal landscapes. By appearing to render her in this pernicious 20th century material, the artist makes a punkish throw-up in the consecrated gallery. In a nod to Tony Hancock’s ‘The Rebel’, he questions value and the history of western traditions through the degenerated male gaze.

A bronze cast of a curved, browning apple core with large pips and red skin, painted to look real.

Eaten and then thrown away, Turk takes the discarded, shrivelled and dead and gives it new life in the form of miniature painted bronze sculptures. Heavy with the symbolism of an English Eden, these once ripe fruits, alongside their associations with knowledge and temptation, Adam’s apple and of course, Eve, have been discarded and tossed away. Now “rotten to the core”, the fruits of the utopian English garden have become a poisonous symbol of man’s fall. Or perhaps they are nothing more ominous than evidence of a healthy diet in which their daily consumption contains the promise to keep the doctor away.

A bronze cast of a curved, browning apple core with large pips and red skin, painted to look real.

Installation info: The maze can be installed inside or outside on a suitably flat foundation. The bottom edge of the panels should be fixed to the ground if installed in a public space.A maze made from two way mirrored glass.

The Golden Thread

Aluminium Frame, laminated Glass and mirror film

Aluminium Frame, laminated glass and mirror film

Labyrinths

Mirrors

Installation

Installation info: The maze can be installed inside or outside on a suitably flat foundation. The bottom edge of the panels should be fixed to the ground if installed in a public space.A maze made from two way mirrored glass.

An ink silhouette of Ariadne in a sleeping bag, based on the paintings by De Chirico

Ariadne in a sleeping bag

Acrylic ink on printed paper

Work on paper

An ink silhouette of Ariadne in a sleeping bag, based on the paintings by De Chirico

A loosely worked sculpture of reclining woman lying on a double plinth based on De Chirico's paintings of ‘Ariadne’.

Stainless steel, marble dust & painted cement

A loosely worked sculpture of reclining woman lying on a double plinth based on De Chirico's paintings of ‘Ariadne’.

A small loosely worked bust of ‘Ariadne’ with her arm over her head, based on the paintings by De Chirico.

The Swimmer

Fired earthenware

Clay

A small loosely worked bust of ‘Ariadne’ with her arm over her head, based on the paintings by De Chirico.

A small loosely worked maquette of the ‘Ariadne’ sculpture, with the addition of a begging cup, from the paintings by De Chirico.

Rough Sleeper

A small loosely worked maquette of the ‘Ariadne’ sculpture, with the addition of a begging cup, from the paintings by De Chirico.

A small loosely worked maquette of the ‘Ariadne’ sculpture from the paintings by De Chirico.

Reclining figure

A small loosely worked maquette of the ‘Ariadne’ sculpture from the paintings by De Chirico.

Ariadne Wrapped

Ariadne Wrapped Maquette

H.M.S Ariadne

Ariadne

Ariadne

Ariadne

Ariadne

The Golden Thread

Ariadne in a sleeping bag

Her

The Swimmer

Rough Sleeper

Reclining figure

The shadow of her former self

Her eclipse

Reclining shadow

Her in Profile