Oil and acrylic on canvas

Oil on linen

Packaging

Art History

Vessels

Forgery

Disguise

Painting

Maggi Seasoning, Astonish Bathroom Cleaner, Tesco Table Salt, Ocado Cinnamon Powder, Stainswich Farm Rapeseed Oil, Bio&Me Seedy and Nutty Granola 

With this anachronistic series of works Gavin Turk channels the spirit of Giorgio Morandi–inviting us to re-evaluate the disposable objects that remain awkwardly invisible in our consumer-driven world. The audience is encouraged to explore a curious juxtaposition, as empty containers from used products are elevated to classical models. Using restricted colour, form, and composition, as an acknowledgement of still life history within the Western Canon, these gentle provocations question our social nostalgia and contemporary values.

'It’s a kind of proto-realistic method that includes images of not only what we throw away but a genre of painting’

Initially pointing to antiquity as if containing an echo of a more innocent, bygone era, hidden stories start to be exposed as the shape of these contemporary vessels tell the story of consumerism, plastic and our addiction to fossil fuels. Referencing the present as well as the past, they serve as relics of our ever-evolving material culture. The design of the tabasco or olive oil bottles evoke the glass jars of the apothecary where once these elixirs would have been purchased, subconsciously instilling faith and worth in the product. This exploration of pathos and nostalgia serves as a reminder that in the detritus of our disposable culture, there exists elusive meaning that can unlock the clues to what we might actually wish to take forward into our future.

Ocado Cinnamon Powder, Stainswich Farm Rapeseed Oil, Yeo Valley Organic Semi Skimmed Milk, Bio&Me Seedy and Nutty Granola, Farm Shop Organic Free Range Eggs

With this anachronistic series of works Gavin Turk channels the spirit of Giorgio Morandi–inviting us to re-evaluate the disposable objects that remain awkwardly invisible in our consumer-driven world. The audience is encouraged to explore a curious juxtaposition, as empty containers from used products are elevated to classical models. Using restricted colour, form, and composition, as an acknowledgement of still life history within the Western Canon, these gentle provocations question our social nostalgia and contemporary values.'It’s a kind of proto-realistic method that includes images of not only what we throw away but a genre of painting’ Initially pointing to antiquity as if containing an echo of a more innocent, bygone era, hidden stories start to be exposed as the shape of these contemporary vessels tell the story of consumerism, plastic and our addiction to fossil fuels. Referencing the present as well as the past, they serve as relics of our ever-evolving material culture. The design of the tabasco or olive oil bottles evoke the glass jars of the apothecary where once these elixirs would have been purchased, subconsciously instilling faith and worth in the product. This exploration of pathos and nostalgia serves as a reminder that in the detritus of our disposable culture, there exists elusive meaning that can unlock the clues to what we might actually wish to take forward into our future.

With this anachronistic series of works Gavin Turk channels the spirit of Giorgio Morandi–inviting us to re-evaluate the disposable objects that remain awkwardly invisible in our consumer-driven world. The audience is encouraged to explore a curious juxtaposition, as empty containers from used products are elevated to classical models. Using restricted colour, form, and composition, as an acknowledgement of still life history within the Western Canon, these gentle provocations question our social nostalgia and contemporary values.

In my latest oil painting, "Banana Box," I delve into the impact of consumer society. I explore themes of packaging, waste, and their environmental implications. The artwork depicts a blurred image of the container that temporarily houses delicate, curved yellow fruits into stackable and interchangeable units. Considering the relationship between painting and photography is an integral aspect of this piece. Bananas reoccur in my work, taking on various forms like bronze casts and neon lights. For me, the banana transcends its fruit status and embodies a metaphysical presence. It becomes a potent symbol representing the intricate dynamics of global trade, logistics, markets, power, as well as the interplay of gender and sexuality. I am conscious of art historical connections to other bananas in art by artists such as, Wayne Thiebaud, Georgio de Chirico, Andy Warhol and a more recently the provocative art fair gesture by Maurizio Cattelan.

Banana Box 

In my latest oil painting, "Banana Box," I delve into the impact of consumer society. I explore themes of packaging, waste, and their environmental implications. The artwork depicts a blurred image of the container that temporarily houses delicate, curved yellow fruits into stackable and interchangeable units. Considering the relationship between painting and photography is an integral aspect of this piece. Bananas reoccur in my work, taking on various forms like bronze casts and neon lights. For me, the banana transcends its fruit status and embodies a metaphysical presence. It becomes a potent symbol representing the intricate dynamics of global trade, logistics, markets, power, as well as the interplay of gender and sexuality.I am conscious of art historical connections to other bananas in art by artists such as, Wayne Thiebaud, Georgio de Chirico, Andy Warhol and a more recently the provocative art fair gesture by Maurizio Cattelan.

In my latest oil painting, "Banana Box," I delve into the impact of consumer society. I explore themes of packaging, waste, and their environmental implications. The artwork depicts a blurred image of the container that temporarily houses delicate, curved yellow fruits into stackable and interchangeable units. Considering the relationship between painting and photography is an integral aspect of this piece. Bananas reoccur in my work, taking on various forms like bronze casts and neon lights. For me, the banana transcends its fruit status and embodies a metaphysical presence.

Rain Box

Consume

Sculpture

Veg Box

Painted bronze

Painted Bronze

Pistoletto's Matchbox 

Digital print on mirror polished stainless steel

Fire

Waste

Photographic Work

White Castellani Box 

Pigment and acrylic medium on cardboard

Eggs

Klein Blue Box

Pigment paint on cardboard

Fragile Box

Framed drawing Pencil on paper. Light brown frame made by Darbyshire.

Box Drawing (1973)

Work on paper

Framed drawing Pencil on paper. Light brown frame made by Darbyshire.

Castellani Box

Tulips

Painted bronze on oak and laminate plinth.

Yves Klein Blue Box

Enrico Castellani Box

Installation info: Split baton hangingwall cabinet

Nature Nurture

Carton in douglas fir plywood box

Installation info: Split baton hangingwall cabinet

Installation info: Split baton hanging wall cabinet

Purgatory

Small fruit crate and netting in douglas fir plywood box

Rotrophydhian

Paper cartons in wood and glass cabinet

Balloons

Printed cardboard in douglas fir plywood box

Ship in a Bottle

Plastic in douglas fir plywood box

Plastic bottle in douglas fir plywood box

Unique un-numbered series of 8 Styrofoam Box

Butter Box

Unique un-numbered series of 8Styrofoam Box

Unique un-numbered series of 8 Styrofoam Box

Transubstantiation

Paint on brown paper bag in skip

Trompe L'oeil

Food

A bronze cast of a cardboard box with a partially open top, painted to look real.

Yard Box

Veggie Box

Geometric Surface

Recycled egg tray

A bronze cast of a discarded, half eaten apple core, with a long stalk and pip showing, 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.

Given

Apples

A bronze cast of a discarded, half eaten apple core, with a long stalk and pip showing, painted to look real.

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 Queequeg

Recycling

The Sea

Domestic

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.

American Box

H.M.S Ahab

H.M.S Ariadne

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.Painted bronze cast of an open match box containing two matches

H.M.S Odyssey

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.Painted bronze cast of an open match box containing two matches

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. Painted bronze cast of an open match box containing two matches