Gavin Turk subverts still-life painting and says: ‘We are what we throw away’In his new series of paintings, British artist Gavin Turk presents arrangements of domestic and commercial packaging. Displayed against monochrome backgrounds, flattening the depth of field, the objects jostle for space and attention, the bright oranges, blues and highlighter-yellows of manufactured plastic countering the muted earth- and stone-tones of cardboard, jars, and eggboxes.&nbsp;While these paintings affirm the artist’s enduring interest in consumer waste – the subject of his famous Bag (2000), a bronze sculpture resembling a black bin liner, bulging with rubbish, as well as recent watercolours of single-use plastic bottles – ‘The Conspiracy of Blindness’ also engages with the work of Italian artist Giorgio Morandi, best known for his own paintings of sleekly formed domestic objects.&nbsp;(‘My art is always other people's art,’ <a href="https://www.wallpaper.com/art/gavin-turk-interview-kerze-london">Turk told us in a 2023 interview</a>, of his approach of referencing other artists in his work.)<h2 id="gavin-turk-x2018-we-are-what-we-throw-away-x2019-3">Gavin Turk: ‘We are what we throw away’</h2>‘One can travel this world and see nothing,’ said Morandi. ‘To achieve understanding it is necessary not to see many things, but to look hard at what you do see.’ Echoing the restricted palette and distinctive stillness of Morandi’s work, Turk’s paintings encourage us to ‘look hard’ at the objects furnishing our lives, brought into homes, often then buried in landfill.&nbsp;In Turk’s hands, these accumulated objects acquire a sense of abstraction. Stripped of their identifying marks and labels, removed from their original contexts, the pure form of each bottle, box, or carton is permitted to take centre stage, at once recognisable and strangely defamiliarised, beautiful and oddly alien. Begun as an attempt to catalogue his own encounters with disposable packaging – what he has termed ‘an exercise in self-portraiture’ – Turk’s paintings confront our habits of consumerism and the global ramifications of the products that surround us.&nbsp;The titles of each painting offer an index, both honest and exposing, of the items on display, restoring brand names and identities, as in the ‘Thai Dragon Siracha Hot Chilli Sauce’ and ‘Scala Vegan Basil Pesto’ of one canvas, or the tubs of ‘Delphi Foods Humous’ and boxes of ‘Maldon Sea Salt Flakes’ that recur in several paintings.&nbsp;It is as though Turk’s series mounts a two-part challenge to the viewer: What would these paintings show if they were yours? Would you be happy to display them in a gallery in London? The work is reminiscent of Michael Landy’s installation, Break Down (2000), which saw the artist offer up his personal belongings (7,226 items) for systematic destruction, dismantled by a team of workers along a conveyer belt, an inverted production line.&nbsp;Turk’s paintings subvert the conventions of traditional still-life painting. Where the lavish spreads of shellfish, fruits, and perishable flowers of 17th-century Dutch still life imply the inevitable rotting and disintegration of their contents, Turk’s plastic bottles and containers don’t so easily suggest a set of objects on the cusp of vanishing&nbsp;On the contrary, it seems almost possible that Turk’s paintings won’t outlive the very objects they depict, that his bottles of ‘Squeeze It Orange Drink’ may still be here long after we have disappeared. Turk’s new paintings confront us, boldly, with this legacy. As he so bluntly puts it: ‘We are what we throw away.’&nbsp;Gavin Turk, ‘The Conspiracy of Blindness’ is at Ben Brown Fine Arts from 15 March – 10 May 2024Full article can be read <a href="https://www.wallpaper.com/art/exhibitions-shows/gavin-turk-still-life-paintings-conspiracy-of-blindness-ben-brown-fine-arts-london">here</a>.&nbsp;

Gavin Turk Maldon Sea Salt Flakes, Cif Original Cream Cleaner, Morrisons Thick Bleach Lemon, Dr Bronner's Organic 18-in-1 Rose Pure-Castile Soap, Duvel Belgium Strong Blond, Yeo Valley Organic Whole Milk, Farm Shop Organic Free Range Eggs, 2023

Gavin Turk considers wasteful consumer culture in ‘The Conspiracy of Blindness’ at Ben Brown Fine Arts, London

Gavin Turk subverts still-life painting and says: ‘We are what we throw away’In his new series of paintings, British artist Gavin Turk presents arrangements of domestic and commercial packaging. Displayed against monochrome backgrounds, flattening the depth of field, the objects jostle for space and attention, the bright oranges, blues and highlighter-yellows of manufactured plastic countering the muted earth- and stone-tones of cardboard, jars, and eggboxes. 

Article - Wallpaper* by Rowland Bagnall

GAVIN TURK ON CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY’S ‘CONSPIRACY OF BLINDNESS’Lee Sharrock in conversation with <a href="https://fadmagazine.com/tag/Gavin-Turk">Gavin Turk</a> about his solo exhibition at <a href="https://fadmagazine.com/tag/ben-brown-fine-arts/">Ben Brown Fine Arts</a>, how it relates to society’s ‘conspiracy of blindness’ towards over-consumption and waste, influences from Magritte to Morandi, and his reinvention as a ‘domestic anthropologist’.&nbsp;Lee Sharrock: Is your exhibition The Conspiracy of Blindness at Ben Brown a version of your recent&nbsp; ‘Still Life’ solo show at Maruani Mercier Knokke gallery in Belgium? And where did the title come from?&nbsp;Gavin Turk: The Magrittian show title comes from the Idea that there is a conspiracy of blindness to waste. Currently, over-consumption is an ideological norm that is part of the systemic breakdown of the environment that itself challenges a habitable world.Since September last year, I have been concentrating on a series of paintings of empty packaging from stuff I have consumed. The still lifes re-frame these objects, creating portraits of waste. The shapes and colours of the objects often ‘supermarket’ familiar return the viewer to the historical and technical necessity of packaging. The show The Conspiracy of Blindness at Ben Brown gallery is a continuation of the exhibition ‘Still Life’ at Maruani Mercier gallery in Belgium that took place at the end of last year.&nbsp;You’ve described yourself as a ‘domestic anthropologist’, what do you mean by that?&nbsp;&nbsp;‘Domestic anthropology’ is a new concept I am exploring. I understand it as an exploration into the familiar items of home life, through the lens of the uncanny or the unheimlich (un-homely). Mundane objects such as the black bin bag on the doorstep reflect societal interpretations. Everyday actions like going to the local shop signify identity politics, showcasing cultural boundaries. Notions of waste become central to the search for value and by implication what is believed to be real.&nbsp;The paintings featured in The Conspiracy of Blindness are inspired by 20th Century Italian artist Giorgio Morandi, yet you have decided to depict ordinary objects such as unbranded sauce bottles and cleaning products. What is it about seemingly mundane, everyday objects that inspires you to make them focal points of your artworks?&nbsp;Giorgio Morandi has become a kind of standard in relation to the still life painting; ‘Natura Morta’ (in Italian crudely translated as dead nature)&nbsp;He painted over a thousand small pictures of a limited number of vessels, vases, cups and pots with particular attention to the light. The paintings have a minimal background, painted in his bedroom studio and are often reduced to a single line; table and wall behind.&nbsp;My paintings are of emptied packaging, taken from my kitchen and placed in my studio. I then curate mise en scene with the objects, sometimes overpainting the outside of the forms or the insides. I am interested in the graphical element of the objects; however, in this Morandi-esque process, it’s not my focus.&nbsp; I am enjoying questioning the classical mythical lens of painting, by using it to depict what would normally be discarded.&nbsp;You have a busy exhibition schedule for 2024 including a group show in France, ‘Faire Corps’ at FoundationVilla Datris’ in May and ‘Rebel Garden’ at the Musea Brugge in April. Are there any exhibitions or collaborations you’re particularly excited about this year?&nbsp;I am excited to be putting together a catalogue around this new series of still lifes, of which Darian Leader (British psychoanalyst and author) has already written an excellent essay. Following this, I am looking at various public sculptures and speaking with Museums on solo exhibitions on new works and retrospectives. News to follow soon…You are one of the OG ‘Young British Artists’, since your 1991 MA exhibition, where you presented a whitewashed studio space containing a single blue heritage plaque commemorating your presence, attracted the attention of Charles Saatchi.&nbsp; Do you ever tire of the Moniker YBA?&nbsp;Yes, I think the main point is it was a very useful shorthand to talk about a particular moment in history. I suppose I’m less interested in my past and more interested in the present. Obviously, I do like to bring art history into the present! I continue to experiment, in the search of my metier.&nbsp;As a multi-disciplinary artist, do you enjoy the audience interaction that your outdoor sculptures inspire – such as the monumental door that you exhibited in Frieze Sculpture Park a couple of years ago –&nbsp; as opposed to the less participatory experience viewers are offered through your paintings?&nbsp;I enjoy any or all forms of engagement with my work. I like the audience to be involved, whether it’s spiritually, physically or conceptually. LÂge d’Or (Green &amp; Red), 2019 was brilliant at Frieze, it’s now permanently placed in Rotterdam directly opposite the Fenix Migration Museum, as part of Sculpture International Rotterdam.&nbsp;&nbsp;I do think, however, that the painting exhibition is something of an installation. The window of the gallery has an assemblage mimicking my studio set up and within the show, each frame is carefully considered. As such it gives a sense that each work has had a lived experience, and then been recalled especially for this exhibition.During more than three decades of artistic practice, you have challenged perceived notions of value, identity, authorship and identity through your work, sometimes referencing modern masters, other times placing yourself in your artworks. Where does your inspiration come from, and what is the starting point for each oeuvre?&nbsp;For me, it all starts with a question of origin, a bit like an egg. You crack it open, and there’s this whole world of possibilities inside.&nbsp;My inspiration? It’s like a compost of art history, everyday experiences, and those lightbulb moments when something just clicks. They often sneak up on me when I’m least expecting it, when I’m deep into something else entirely. My brain’s on this constant treasure hunt for ideas, and sometimes it strikes gold when I’m looking the other way. A bit like solving a puzzle, but the pieces keep changing shape as you go. I love diving into the problem-solving aspect of art, tweaking and tinkering until it feels just right. But, you know, every solution tends to throw up a dozen more questions, which keeps the whole cycle going.&nbsp;Gavin Turk, The Conspiracy of Blindness through to 10th May 2024, <a href="https://www.benbrownfinearts.com/exhibitions/212-gavin-turk-the-conspiracy-of-blindness/">Ben Brown Fine Arts</a>Full piece can be accessed <a href="https://fadmagazine.com/2024/04/05/gavin-turk-on-contemporary-societys-conspiracy-of-blindness/">here.&nbsp;</a>

Gavin Turk - The Conspiracy of Blindness 

GAVIN TURK ON CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY’S ‘CONSPIRACY OF BLINDNESS’

GAVIN TURK ON CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY’S ‘CONSPIRACY OF BLINDNESS’Lee Sharrock in conversation with Gavin Turk about his solo exhibition at Ben Brown Fine Arts, how it relates to society’s ‘conspiracy of blindness’ towards over-consumption and waste, influences from Magritte to Morandi, and his reinvention as a ‘domestic anthropologist’. 

Interview - FAD Magzine by Lee Sharrock 

Frieze 20th Anniversary, visit Ben Brown Fine Arts at FRIEZE MASTERS Stand B13 for Seminal works by Gavin, including 'Cavey' a ‘historical blue plaque’ to commemorate work done by the artist during his time at the Royal College of Art. The blue ceramic English heritage plaque reads “Gavin Turk, Sculptor, worked here 1989 – 1991”. A commemoration of a life, it marks the presence of the artist with the most powerful and evocative of the tools that might be at his disposal - his absence. The curtain has fallen. The titles are rolling. Gavin Turk has left the stage. Death as performance. 
 
Plato’s famous allegory, tells of a hidden reality we can neither see nor know. In an unexpected twist to the tale, Cave has additionally become infamous as the piece of work that "won" Turk a fail for his Masters which he had been studying for at the Royal College of Art. Ironically, it has gone on to become regarded as one of Turk's most iconic pieces.

Ben Brown Fine Arts

Frieze 20th Anniversary, visit Ben Brown Fine Arts at FRIEZE MASTERS Stand B13 for Seminal works by Gavin, including 'Cavey' a ‘historical blue plaque’ to commemorate work done by the artist during his time at the Royal College of Art. The blue ceramic English heritage plaque reads “Gavin Turk, Sculptor, worked here 1989 – 1991”. A commemoration of a life, it marks the presence of the artist with the most powerful and evocative of the tools that might be at his disposal - his absence. The curtain has fallen. The titles are rolling. Gavin Turk has left the stage. Death as performance.

Frieze Masters 2023

The Heong Gallery | Cambridge | 6th October - 5th February 2023

Gavin invites you to the private view of In Search of Ariadne at The Heong Gallery Cambridge Friday 7th October, 6.30pm - 8.30pm RSVP essential&nbsp;<a href="mailto:info@gavinturk.com?subject=RSVP%20PV%20Gavin%20Turk%20-%20In%20Search%20of%20Ariadne&amp;body=Hello%2C%0A%0APlease%20can%20I%20RSVP%20for%20the%20Private%20View%20of%20Gavin%20Turk%20-%20In%20Search%20of%20Ariadne%2C%20exhibition%20opening%20on%207th%20October.%0A%0A%5BInsert%20name%2Fs%20of%20guest%2Fs%5D%0A%0ABest%2C%20%0A">click here</a>.&nbsp;

Following the permanent public sculpture Ariadne Wrapped, 2022 in Cambridge Station Square - In Search of Ariadne unravels the cultural meme of the reclining figure in art. Accompanying the exhibition is a new catalogue with inclusions from Louisa Buck, Charlotte Higgins, Paul Millett &amp; Prerona Prasad, as well as installation shots of the exhibition is available to preorder for £15 + postage&nbsp;<a href="mailto:info@gavinturk.com?subject=Preorder%20In%20Search%20of%20Ariadne%20Book&amp;body=Hello%2C%20%0A%0APlease%20can%20I%20preorder%20the%20In%20Search%20of%20Ariadne%20Catalogue%20for%20%C2%A315%20%2B%202.40%20(domestic%20postage.%20%0A%0AMy%20details%20for%20address%20are%3A%20%0A%0AFull%20name%3A%20%0AAddress%20for%20postage%3A%20%0A%0ABest%2C%20%0A%0A">now</a>. 
 
Thank you to the exhibition sponsors: Ben Brown Fine Arts &amp; Reflex Amsterdam

&nbsp;

The Heong Gallery | Cambridge | 6th October - 5th February 2023

In Search of Ariadne

<h3>20 Jul&nbsp;-&nbsp;5 Nov 23</h3>

<h5>Croft Castle and Parkland, National Trust&nbsp;</h5>

‘An Apple Gathering’ at Croft Castle an exhibition celebrating the importance of Herefordshire’s apple-growing history and exploring the many complex meanings of this humble fruit through the seasons. Throughout the year, the castle, grounds, church, and walled garden orchards will be gradually transformed by stories of the apple, told through art, music, sculptures, and literature, inviting visitors to discover the remarkable influence of apples within art and culture that can often be overlooked.

The exhibition is part of the Apples &amp; People programme, a partnership between the Brightspace Foundation, The Museum of Cider Hereford, and the National Trust in Herefordshire. The first part of the exhibition begins at Croft Castle on 22 April 2023 and will run until 5 November, with different stages of activity scheduled throughout the year.

20 Jul - 5 Nov 23 Croft Castle and Parkland, National Trust  ‘An Apple Gathering’ at Croft Castle an exhibition celebrating the importance of Herefordshire’s apple-growing history and exploring the many complex meanings of this humble fruit through the seasons.

An Apple Gathering exhibition

Safe As 
 
Gavin Turk presents a new sculpture and works from the Cosmic Egg&nbsp;series

The House of St Barnubus 
1 Greek Street, London, W1D 4NQ 
Thursday 13th April 2023 - 6pm - 8pm 
RSVP essential 
&nbsp;

Safe As Gavin Turk presents a new sculpture and works from the Cosmic Egg series The House of St Barnubus 1 Greek Street, London, W1D 4NQ Thursday 13th April 2023 - 6pm - 8pm RSVP essential  

Safe As

Gavin Turk: ‘My art is always other people's art’It’s been 25 years since ‘Sensation’, the 1997 landmark Royal Academy show in London that rattled the very fabric of art as we knew it. Everything was controversial, everything stirred the senses, and nothing, in British art at least, has been the same since.&nbsp;One artist in the nucleus of this melting pot was Gavin Turk, a key protagonist of the YBAs (Young British Artists). Turk’s subversive visual identity has long been defined by ‘quoting’ ingredients from other artists or sources and fusing them with his own. The resulting recipe is a provocative blend that questions core notions of authorship and value. ‘My art is always other people's art,’ he says. ‘But I'd also say that the inevitability of contemporary art is that it's always a self-portrait as well.’Among his most recognisable hits are Pop (1993), a waxwork figure of Turk as Sid Vicious posing as Andy Warhol's Elvis Presley, which appeared as one of the headline works in ‘Sensation’; Pile (2004), a hyperreal ensemble of bronze-cast bin bags; and more recently, a curious homage to Piero Manzoni in Artist’s Piss (2021), a series of aluminium cans filled with, well, the title covers that.&nbsp;On the face of it, ‘Kerze’, at London’s Ben Brown Fine Arts, seems devoid of the electric-shock factor for which Turk is known. ‘Normally my works are humorous’, he says, walking me around the exhibition in November. ‘I had an idea that there might be some humour in the unexpectedness of this as a show by me. It makes you laugh because it's a bit off-key.’ In that sense, it is very Turk indeed; but we must look harder, and deeper. He is, after all, an artist for which we’re conditioned to expect the unexpected.&nbsp;Turk has transformed the gallery into something akin to a chapel. Eleven canvases of meticulously painted candles (some solitary, some paired or in threes) are set against eerie, hazily-lit modernist backgrounds. Focus on one painting, and another in your peripheral vision appears to billow in the gallery’s slow wind.The <a href="https://www.wallpaper.com/art/london-art-exhibitions-post-lockdown">London art exhibition</a> is something of a quote within a quote. Turk first came across Kerze (Candle), a 1983 painting by Gerhard Richter, on the cover of Sonic Youth’s 1988 album, Daydream Nation. And it’s been lodged in his subconscious ever since. ‘I think I was a bit of a daydreamer, and that's probably why I ended up being an artist,’ Turk reflects. ‘At the time, there was still energy between the image and the music. It was still significant to be able to have the music and a picture to look at.’‘I conceived of them quite conceptually, like a sculpture,' he says ‘It’s about paring it down and really going for the minimal thing and just seeing how that feels or how it works.’There is one obvious distinction between the two artists’ take on ‘Kerze’: Richter’s candle is lit, Turk’s are extinguished. While Turk describes Richter’s work as having ‘the energy of now’, his own paintings suggest the immediate aftermath of human presence, as the candle breathing the death rattle of its combustion.A candle, in the 21st century, is a relatively superfluous addition to daily life, symbolising occasion, sacredness, mourning and celebration. Turk’s paintings seem to dwell on the afterthought, each with a lingering question mark. &nbsp;Turk has often mined from the toolbox of Surrealism, his work featuring eggs, pipes, doors, windows, candles, and smoke. ‘I keep talking about [the candles] as metaphysical symbols. ‘They appear and reappear in Surrealism. They're almost like a clock, then they disappear into the air like a ghost,’ he says. Surrealism yes, but also antiquity; the extinguished candle, after all, is a well-oiled memento mori.&nbsp;Gavin Turk’s ‘Kerze’ is a show of many sensations. There’s a lure of familiarity, dashed by a simple yet fundamental intervention; melancholy and nostalgia for moments just passed; a daydream floats above a hyperreality, and a puff of subtle, but characteristically subversive humour.Gavin Turk, ‘Kerze’, until 14 January 2023, Ben Brown FIne Arts, London.Full piece can be read <a href="https://www.wallpaper.com/art/gavin-turk-interview-kerze-london">here</a>.&nbsp;

Gavin Turk 

We interview British artist Gavin Turk, whose show ‘Kerze’ at Ben Brown Fine Arts is an ode to Gerhard Richter, with an uncanny twist

Kerze

Gavin Turk: ‘My art is always other people's art’It’s been 25 years since ‘Sensation’, the 1997 landmark Royal Academy show in London that rattled the very fabric of art as we knew it. Everything was controversial, everything stirred the senses, and nothing, in British art at least, has been the same since. 

Interview - Wallpaper* by Harriet Lloyd-Smith

A new three-part documentary series explores the explosion of art, music and culture in the 80s that changed the landscape of modern Britain forever.

Known as the Young British Artists, these bad girls and boys of British art, along with DJs, writers and musicians, share their memories of student life and warehouse parties, of art that shocked and the mayhem that followed.

Ripping up the rule book of what art could be, they pushed the boundaries, resulting in a creative explosion that put Britain’s art and culture at the centre of the global stage.

The series coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Sensation exhibition at the Royal Academy of Art.

[Watch <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001cbst/episodes/guide">Here</a>]

Art History

A new three-part documentary series explores the explosion of art, music and culture in the 80s that changed the landscape of modern Britain forever. Known as the Young British Artists, these bad girls and boys of British art, along with DJs, writers and musicians, share their memories of student life and warehouse parties, of art that shocked and the mayhem that followed. Ripping up the rule book of what art could be, they pushed the boundaries, resulting in a creative explosion that put Britain’s art and culture at the centre of the global stage.

BBC Documentary - Sensationalists: The Bad Girls and Boys of British Art 

Gavin Turks unveils a brand new public sculpture ‘<a href="https://gtfront.platform-3.co.uk/artworks/2022/ariadne-wrapped">Ariadne Wrapped</a>’ on 17th June 2022, in front of Cambridge Station. 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.

This sculpture in the square appears 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.

[Watch video&nbsp;<a href="https://gtfront.platform-3.co.uk/videos/gavin-turk-ariadne-wrapped">Here</a>]&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Ariadne

Gavin Turks unveils a brand new public sculpture ‘Ariadne Wrapped’ on 17th June 2022, in front of Cambridge Station. 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.

Ariadne Wrapped 2022

Visual artist Gavin Turk discusses recycling history and stories as well as physical things.

Why are artists so interested in trash?

I was picking up crumpled cans of pop soda cans off the street one day, and I thought, “Oh, these are cool.” You’ve got this 3D object that’s been flattened into a 2D piece. A bit of the back comes to the front, and a bit from the side goes around to the back. They almost feel Cubist. And they still have this advert on them. But is that can still advertising Coca Cola? It’s just been thrown on the street, and someone has come along and ran it over with their car, and now it’s dirty and filthy and almost rusted. Is it anti-promotion? Or is someone going to see it and still want a Coca Cola?

It’s almost like the yang to the yin of desire. On one side, we’ve got things people desire, and then on the other, we’ve got things people get rid of.&nbsp;I love the idea that we don’t just “place” stuff in the trash heap, we “throw” it. We have to somehow eject it in a forceful way so that we can see ourselves in some distance from that thing. But quite obviously, the thing really doesn’t go away. It’s still there, it’s just gone away from you and possibly got closer to other people or to other situations.

That’s why for me the fascination with waste seems to be about fascination itself. And it’s also so available.&nbsp;Everyone knows what trash is, but we don’t all know quite why we have to deal with it.

The thing is, the sweet liquid inside is kind of worth very little. Most of the cost is in the packaging. So really what you’ve brought is this aluminum can with all this special printed graphics and stuff like that, and the engineering that went in to make it and ship it. But everyone still thinks, “No. I don’t want that,” or, “I want this, the brown, sugary liquid inside, and the can I’ll just throw away.”

I got really excited about the idea of how to remind people of this system of desire and waste we sit in. That system, for me, can be told just by picking up a can on the street.

What about boxed water? It’s a huge thing in New York City right now. It’s become this, “Oh, we’re going to do something that’s elevated,” but it’s still just bottled water.

We don’t have boxed water. I don’t even know what that is. That’s a sort of tetra pack or something, is it?

[ Interview continues <a href="https://thecreativeindependent.com/people/visual-artist-gavin-turk-on-recycling-ideas-in-your-work/">here</a>&nbsp;]

&nbsp;

On recycling ideas in your work

Recycling

Visual artist Gavin Turk discusses recycling history and stories as well as physical things. Why are artists so interested in trash?

Interview piece - The Creative Independent 

Patinated bronze and steel

1800 x 1800 x 250mm

<a href="https://www.gavinturk.com/artworks/2017">2017</a>

Gavin Turk’s Axis Mundi, a cover for the new ecological bore hole at Paddington Basin is a out of scale bronze facsimile of a traditional well-used sink plug. Referencing the work is Bouche-evier a work by Marcel Duchamp the cast of a plug hole. The name of the sculpture Axis Mundi means ‘Centre of the Earth’ (the point between heaven and earth where the four compass points meet), reminiscent of the Socle du Monde by Piero Manzoni. The work continues in the spirit of the artists previous public art commissions, which include a 12m bronze ‘Nail’ outside St Paul’s Cathedral and a series of freestanding painted bronze doors ‘L’Âge d’Or’ and ‘Ajar’.

Patinated bronze and steel 1800 x 1800 x 250mm 2017

Axis Mundi Unveiling

Following a long-established art historical tradition, eggs have a metaphorical role in Gavin Turk’s work. A symbol of life and creation, originality and mortality, eggs feature in his practice as giant totems, surreal heads and signatures made from broken shells, as well as in liquid forms as mayonnaise, and egg tempera paint. In total, Turk has created over 600 artworks where the egg is present.

Oeuvre (Verdigris)&nbsp;is made of bronze and features markings reminiscent of a duck egg. Placed in a natural landscape setting at YSP, this oversized egg seems realistic and familiar, whilst also being comic and surreal due to its scale.&nbsp;Oeuvre (Verdigris)&nbsp;is part of a series of works based on different birds’ eggs. Their titles play on the similarity between the word for the life’s work of an artist – ‘Oeuvre’ – and the French word for egg – ‘oeuf’.&nbsp;

Courtesy of Gavin Turk’s studio and Ben Brown Fine Arts.

Following a long-established art historical tradition, eggs have a metaphorical role in Gavin Turk’s work. A symbol of life and creation, originality and mortality, eggs feature in his practice as giant totems, surreal heads and signatures made from broken shells, as well as in liquid forms as mayonnaise, and egg tempera paint. In total, Turk has created over 600 artworks where the egg is present.

Oeuvre at Yorkshire Sculpture Park 

Portrait of an Egg 
Online and at Photo London, Somerset House 
Until 20th May 2019 
<a href="http://www.gavinturkegg.art">www.gavinturkegg.art</a>

Portrait of an Egg Online and at Photo London, Somerset House Until 20th May 2019 www.gavinturkegg.art

Portrait of an Egg - Online and at Somerset House

Turkish Tulips and The Clockwork Garden 
The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, Co Durham DL12 8NP 
29 July - 5 November 2017 
<a href="http://thebowesmuseum.org.uk/Exhibitions/2017/Turkish-Tulips">thebowesmuseum.org.uk</a>

Turkish Tulips at The Bowes Museum (1)

Turkish Tulips and The Clockwork Garden The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, Co Durham DL12 8NP 29 July - 5 November 2017 thebowesmuseum.org.uk

Turkish Tulips and The Clockwork Garden at The Bowes Museum

Turkish Tulips 
Museum Van Loon,&nbsp;Keizersgracht 672,&nbsp;1017 ET Amsterdam, Netherlands 
Opening 2 March 5-7pm 
3 March - 29 May 2017 
<a href="http://www.museumvanloon.nl/">museumvanloon.nl</a>

Turkish Tulips Museum Van Loon, Keizersgracht 672, 1017 ET Amsterdam, Netherlands Opening 2 March 5-7pm 3 March - 29 May 2017 museumvanloon.nl

Turkish Tulips at Museum Van Loon, Amsterdam

Give In 
Ben Brown Fine Arts, 12 Brook's Mews, London W1K 4DG 
Opening 8 February 6-8pm 
9 February - 12 April 
<a href="http://www.benbrownfinearts.com/exhibitions/113/">benbrownfinearts.com</a>

Give In at Ben Brown Fine Arts (1)

Give In Ben Brown Fine Arts, 12 Brook's Mews, London W1K 4DG Opening 8 February 6-8pm 9 February - 12 April benbrownfinearts.com

Give In at Ben Brown Fine Arts

&nbsp;Who What Where When How and Why 
Newport Street Gallery, Newport St, Lambeth, London SE11 6AJ 
23rd November 2016 to 19th March 2017 
<a href="http://www.newportstreetgallery.com/news">newportstreetgallery.com</a>

 Who What Where When How and Why Newport Street Gallery, Newport St, Lambeth, London SE11 6AJ 23rd November 2016 to 19th March 2017 newportstreetgallery.com

Who What When Where How and Why at Newport Street Gallery

The Other Art Fair 
Victoria House, Southampton Row, London WC1A 2QP 
Opening Tonight and running until Sunday 26th April 
Visit stand 79 for Gavin Turk and stand 78 for The House of Fairy Tales

Tonight sees the opening of The Other Art Fair and the launch of Gavin's&nbsp;exclusive&nbsp;new collection of signed litho posters and a photographic edition&nbsp;for his&nbsp;'Project Beard' initiative to benefit his educational children's art charity The House of Fairy Tales.

The photographic series will be available as a poster&nbsp;'Rodin, Morris,&nbsp;Cézanne, Matisse, Man Ray, Dali’ in a signed and numbered&nbsp;edition of 250 and sold at just £50 each. The print editions of the six images will be available in editions of 20 plus 5 Artist Proofs at £2000 for the set.

For more information and to purchase tickets visit&nbsp;<a href="http://www.theotherartfair.com/site">theotherartfair.com</a>

Exclusive New Prints at The Other Art Fair (1)

The Other Art Fair Victoria House, Southampton Row, London WC1A 2QP Opening Tonight and running until Sunday 26th April Visit stand 79 for Gavin Turk and stand 78 for The House of Fairy Tales Tonight sees the opening of The Other Art Fair and the launch of Gavin's exclusive new collection of signed litho posters and a photographic edition for his 'Project Beard' initiative to benefit his educational children's art charity The House of Fairy Tales.

Exclusive New Prints at The Other Art Fair

The London Original Print Fair 
Royal Academy of Arts,&nbsp;Burlington House,&nbsp;Piccadilly,&nbsp;London W1J 0BD 
Open now until Sunday 26th April 
Visit stand&nbsp;32

Jealous Gallery together with Enitharmon Press are releasing a new print edition with Gavin, as part of their&nbsp;new series 'The Print and The Poem'. The portfolio bound edition of 75, entitled 'The Moment' comes with the artist's accompanying poem and will be live screen printed on the evening of the Young Collector's event, tomorrow Friday 24th April.&nbsp;The proceeds will again be in support of Gavin’s educational children's art charity The House of Fairy Tales and Jealous and Enthimon will be displaying further works from the House of Fairytales Portfolio at both stands.

For more information and to purchase tickets visit&nbsp;londonprintfair.com

Exclusive New Print at The London Original Print Fair (1)

The London Original Print Fair Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD Open now until Sunday 26th April Visit stand 32

Exclusive New Print at The London Original Print Fair

Here in The Wanderer’s Nightsong II, the work of five artists will begin to dialogue with bastard versions of themselves, to communicate across this space: Gavin Turk, Neil Gall, Kate Atkin, Cathy De Monchaux, and Chris Hawtin.

The Wanderer’s Nightsong II; explores the relationship between artists and new forms of technological representation. Taking its title from Goethe’s classic eight-line poem scratched into the walls of a mountain lodge, the poem describes a progression from mineral through animal to human, of a natural process becoming language. The poems power lies in three simple factual statements followed by an assertion for the future, without the use of simile, metaphor or symbol, the poem is untranslatable. Ian Dawson questions ideas of technical evolution and translation through his own ambiguous 'curator' role, extending beyond curator to technician and collaborator, Dawson 'translates' the work of each artist via 3D scanning and printing into copies of themselves, &nbsp;asking questions of mediation, re-mediation, authorship and originality.

As we desert the lived environment for the virtual we are to believe 3D printing is part of this reality, printed gun, printed house, printed hip-joints and heart valves. A new future is upon us, one of designing and printing our own cutlery for our Sunday roast, of not having to visit Ikea ever again. Science, medicine and design seems to have many worthy and immediate applications for these technologies but the 3D print technologies have entered visual culture as the personalized kitsch novelty figurine to adorn the top of wedding cakes. And just as the photograph altered our perception of reality to include the blur, we have yet to see what the 3D scan and print will do to the art object. What new forms of blindness or 'seeing' will they induce?

The final two lines of Goethe's poem are-

Just wait soon, 
You will rest too

There is a point in the not too distant future when computational power overtakes that of the human brain, a point when the baton for our evolutionary progress is fully transferred. So perhaps these last two lines signal the demise of humankind and perhaps the question that arises here is who or what is the work being made for anymore.

The Wanderer's Nightsong II at C&C Gallery, London (1)

Here in The Wanderer’s Nightsong II, the work of five artists will begin to dialogue with bastard versions of themselves, to communicate across this space: Gavin Turk, Neil Gall, Kate Atkin, Cathy De Monchaux, and Chris Hawtin.

The Wanderer's Nightsong II at C&C Gallery, London

True Rocks Pop Up Shop  (1)

True Rocks Pop Up Shop 

Art Social '14 - Gavin Turk in Conversation with Richard Strange 
6:30pm Thursday 31st July 
<a href="http://hosb.org.uk/contact-us/">The House of St Barnabas, 1 Greek Street, London W1D 4NQ</a>

The Soho based homeless charity and not-for-profit private members’ club&nbsp;The House of St Barnabas are hosting their first multi-disciplinary arts festival,&nbsp;Art Social ’14 this weekend. &nbsp;Featuring a programme of collaborations between artists and musicians, talks, performances and workshops will take place in the organisation's Grade 1 listed Georgian town house.

For more information and the full programme visit <a href="http://hosb.org.uk/our-culture/">House of St Barnabus</a>

Gavin Turk in conversation with Richard Strange at Art Social '14  (6)

Art Social '14 - Gavin Turk in Conversation with Richard Strange 6:30pm Thursday 31st July The House of St Barnabas, 1 Greek Street, London W1D 4NQ

Gavin Turk in conversation with Richard Strange at Art Social '14 

Emily Bradbury of Constant And True and Dawn Hindle of Ibiza Rocks, are set to launch their first jewellery collaboration,&nbsp;True Rocks&nbsp;at Ibiza Rocks House on the 4th June and at the Art Car Boot Fair 2014 on 8th June.

For their first collaboration piece True Rocks have cast Turk's Rich Tea Biscuit in silver, rose gold and gold, each in an&nbsp;edition of 100.

For more details and to purchase 'Bitten' visit&nbsp;<a href="http://www.truerocks.com/wp/">Truerocks.com</a>

Rich Tea Biscuit Jewellery Launched by True Rocks (1)

Emily Bradbury of Constant And True and Dawn Hindle of Ibiza Rocks, are set to launch their first jewellery collaboration, True Rocks at Ibiza Rocks House on the 4th June and at the Art Car Boot Fair 2014 on 8th June. For their first collaboration piece True Rocks have cast Turk's Rich Tea Biscuit in silver, rose gold and gold, each in an edition of 100. For more details and to purchase 'Bitten' visit Truerocks.com

Rich Tea Biscuit Jewellery Launched by True Rocks

<a rel="attachment wp-att-790" href="http://gavinturk.com/news/triptych-experimental-opera-opera-erratica-set-design-gavin-turk.html/triptych_eflyer_1-copy"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-790" title="TRIPTYCH_EFLYER_1 copy" src="http://gavinturk.com/news/wp-content/uploads/TRIPTYCH_EFLYER_1-copy-355x796.jpg" alt="" width="355" height="796" /></a>

TRIPTYCH
17 May - 7 June 2014
<a href="http://www.the-print-room.org/page72.htm">The Print Room</a>

Inspired by the structure of Puccini's Il Trittico, TRIPTYCH is comprised of three genre pieces - a tragedy, a comedy and a piece about nuns - touching on themes of obsession, alienation and the desire for human connection.

This original opera, set designed by artist Gavin Turk in his first ever theatre commission, is composed by Chris Mayo, Thomas Smetryns and Christian Mason, with librettos by Orlando Wells and Patrick Eakin Young.

PRESS FOR TRIPTYCH:

<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/how-we-met-gavin-turk--anda-winters-9235908.html">How We Met: Gavin Turk and Anda Winters - Independent on Sunday</a>

<a href="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/magazine/article4065895.ece">What I've Learnt: Gavin Turk - Times Magazine (26 April 2014)</a>

TRIPTYCH a new experimental opera by Opera Erratica with set design by Gavin Turk (1)

TRIPTYCH 17 May - 7 June 2014 The Print Room Inspired by the structure of Puccini's Il Trittico, TRIPTYCH is

TRIPTYCH a new experimental opera by Opera Erratica with set design by Gavin Turk

Seven Billion Two Hundred and One Million Nine Hundred and Sixty-Four Thousand and Two Hundred and Thirty-Eight 
Private view: &nbsp;7:30pm Friday 24th January 
25 January - 21 April 2014 
<a href="http://gavinturk.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=852d0907e56ce012700ea904c&amp;id=bef31d10c5&amp;e=da110d0ce8">The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, Co Durham DL12 8NP</a> 
Curated by Greville Worthington

This exhibition brings together for the first time all of Turk’s neon works – signature pieces made between 1995 and 2014 that examine the evolution of Turk’s practice.

The show&nbsp;will travel to the&nbsp;<a href="http://gavinturk.us1.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=852d0907e56ce012700ea904c&amp;id=aeddf76a21&amp;e=da110d0ce8">New Art Centre, Roche Court</a>, Salisbury in November 2014 and&nbsp;<a href="http://gavinturk.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=852d0907e56ce012700ea904c&amp;id=d99dcc948a&amp;e=da110d0ce8">Grundy Art Gallery</a>, Blackpool in 2015 .

Seven Billion Two Hundred and One Million Nine Hundred and Sixty-Four Thousand and Two Hundred and Thirty-Eight (1)

Seven Billion Two Hundred and One Million Nine Hundred and Sixty-Four Thousand and Two Hundred and Thirty-Eight Private view:  7:30pm Friday 24th January 25 January - 21 April 2014 The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, Co Durham DL12 8NP Curated by Greville Worthington

Seven Billion Two Hundred and One Million Nine Hundred and Sixty-Four Thousand and Two Hundred and Thirty-Eight

Vanacular 
A project for the 55th Venice Biennale 
Private view:&nbsp;&nbsp;6pm Tuesday 28 May Open: &nbsp;29 May - 24 November 
Curated by&nbsp;James Putnam and Fiona Biggiero 
Assistant Curator Vassiliki Tzanakou 
<a href="http://gavinturk.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=852d0907e56ce012700ea904c&amp;id=472ee466f3&amp;e=da110d0ce8">Gervasuti Foundation,</a> Fondamenta S. Ana (Via Garibaldi),&nbsp;Castello 994, 30122 - Venice (Nearest Vaporetto stop: GIARDINI)

On the occasion of the 55th Venice Biennale, the Gervasuti Foundation is proud to present&nbsp;Vanacular, a site-specific project by British artist Gavin Turk. This installation is comprised of a selection of works based on the artist’s ongoingTransit Disaster&nbsp;series. The title is a pun on ‘van’ and ‘vernacular‘, a metaphor implying the social connotations that the iconic white Ford van of the ‘90s represents in British society and a paradoxical play on the Venetian urban context, a city without roads.&nbsp;&nbsp;Vanacular&nbsp;reconfigures a language of identity between that which is considered an accident of fate and that which is invested with intent, both in art and in life.

Turk often recycles famous art historical imagery in order to make contemporary societal correlations.&nbsp;Vanacular&nbsp;revives the classic pop-art technique of silk-screen-on-canvas while referencing the works of its most celebrated exponents Andy Warhol and Robert Raushenberg with his&nbsp;18 metre long Currents&nbsp;(1970). Inspired by Warhol’s famous&nbsp;Death And Disaster&nbsp;series (1962-3), which were derived from photographs of fatal car accidents taken from newspapers, Turk’sVanacular&nbsp;comprises a site-specific 27 metre long canvas with a selection of sourced images of crashed and/or burnt-out Ford Transit vans.&nbsp; The expressive shapes of the distorted metal, every scratch as if charged with meaning, also allude to the underlying social tensions that led to the 2011 London riots which some of these images come from.&nbsp; The repeated still images silk-screened in a ‘Warhol style’ range of colour combinations produce an animated effect as if to suggest a disaster movie. The orchestration of colours enhances this sense of motion which in turn effects a transformation or change from the stasis of the crashed vans into a new energy or lifeforce.

Transit Disaster&nbsp;series is not merely a pastiche of Warhol’s famous car crash paintings since Turk replaces the American car with an image of a white transit van, a symbol of a disappearing era of working class Britain.&nbsp;Vanacular&nbsp;also relates, albeit indirectly, to the term ‘Fordism’, the notion of a modern economic and social system based on an assembly line system of mass production for a mass market. Turk’s&nbsp;Vanacular&nbsp;represents a visual manifestation of urban unrest, which through continuous clashes and disasters is heading towards a materialistic mutation.

Courtesy of Ella, Aedan &amp; Darya Collection and Aeroplastics, Brussels.

Vanacular: A Project for the 55th Venice Biennale (1)

Vanacular A project for the 55th Venice Biennale Private view:  6pm Tuesday 28 May Open:  29 May - 24 November Curated by James Putnam and Fiona Biggiero Assistant Curator Vassiliki Tzanakou Gervasuti Foundation, Fondamenta S. Ana (Via Garibaldi), Castello 994, 30122 - Venice (Nearest Vaporetto stop: GIARDINI)

Vanacular: A Project for the 55th Venice Biennale

<a rel="attachment wp-att-727" href="http://gavinturk.com/news/726.html/monograph-without-dustcover-6"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-727" title="Monograph without dustcover 6" src="http://gavinturk.com/news/wp-content/uploads/Monograph-without-dustcover-6.jpg" alt="" width="339" height="309" /></a>
To coincide with the publication of the new monograph Turk will be in discussion both this Friday and next Friday to talk about his career, celebrity and identity at two major London venues.

Tickets are available for both events on the below links:

Gavin Turk and Iain Sinclair in Discussion
Chaired by Ossian Ward
Friday 17 May 6:30pm
V&amp;A - Hochhauser Auditorium, Sackler Centre
<a href="http://www.vam.ac.uk/whatson/event/2437/gavin-turk-and-iain-sinclair-3725/" target="_self">Book tickets here</a>

Gavin Turk and Jarvis Cocker - Art and Fame: What Celebrity Does to Identity Chaired by Miranda Sawyer
Friday 24 May 7:45pm
Part of London Literature Festival at Southbank Centre
<a href="http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/gavin-turk-and-jarvis-cocker-73074">Book tickets here</a>

Turk Talks (1)

Turk Talks

Text by Iain Sinclair and Judith Collins 
Published by Prestel Hardback 400 pages with 450 colour illustrations 
Dimensions: 245 x 290 mm 
ISBN:&nbsp;978-3-7913-4834-6

Assembled under the artist’s direction, this first major book on the work of Gavin Turk showcases more than two decades of extraordinary sculptures, paintings, prints and installations.

This impressive volume includes Turk’s major works since the early 1990s, an original essay by Iain Sinclair contextualizing the artist’s work under the umbrella of psycho-geography, including the impact of London on Turk’s personae, and an introductory essay by Judith Collins, an international authority on sculpture.

To celebrate the launch of the monograph Turk will be in discussion with Iain Sinclair and Ossian Ward at the V&amp;A on 17th May and talking to Jarvis Cocker and Miranda Sawyer at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre as part of the London Literary Festival on 24th May.

To buy tickets visit: <a href="http://www.vam.ac.uk/whatson/event/2437/gavin-turk-and-iain-sinclair-3725/">V&amp;A </a><a href="http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/gavin-turk-and-jarvis-cocker-73074">Southbank Centre</a>

Buy a signed copy now from&nbsp;<a href="http://shop.gavinturk.com/products/monograph">shop.gavinturk.com </a> 
A special boxed edition of 50 including a signed print is also available.

Monograph (1)

Text by Iain Sinclair and Judith Collins Published by Prestel Hardback 400 pages with 450 colour illustrations Dimensions: 245 x 290 mm ISBN: 978-3-7913-4834-6 Assembled under the artist’s direction, this first major book on the work of Gavin Turk showcases more than two decades of extraordinary sculptures, paintings, prints and installations.

Monograph

Date: 6:30 – 9pm Tuesday 6th November 
Venue: &nbsp; &nbsp;Simpsons-in-the-strand, 100 Strand, London WC2R 0EW

To celebrate the launch of Galerie Simpson Gavin has created a series of very special limited edition prints, as pictured above.

To attend the opening please RSVP to&nbsp;<a href="mailto:office@galeriesimpson.com?subject=Gavin%20Turk%20Door%20Series">office@galeriesimpson.com</a>

For more information visit&nbsp;<a href="http://gavinturk.us1.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=852d0907e56ce012700ea904c&amp;id=1bbe437c48&amp;e=da110d0ce8">www.galeriesimpson.com</a>

Print Edition Launch with Galerie Simpson (1)

Date: 6:30 – 9pm Tuesday 6th November Venue:    Simpsons-in-the-strand, 100 Strand, London WC2R 0EW To celebrate the launch of Galerie Simpson Gavin has created a series of very special limited edition prints, as pictured above. To attend the opening please RSVP to office@galeriesimpson.com

Print Edition Launch with Galerie Simpson

Gavin Turk 
13th September - 27th October 2012 
Patricia Low Contemporary, 10 rue de l’Arquebuse,&nbsp;1204 Geneva,&nbsp;Switzerland 
www.patricialow.com

Patricia Low Contemporary is pleased to announce a solo exhibition by Gavin Turk. Superimposing his own identity and brand onto famous celebrities and associated art legends, Gavin Turk’s self-portraits play a game of subterfuge with authorship and mythology. In works from his Elvis series, Turk humorously declares himself heir to the titles of King of Rock and Pop, striking the pose of Warhol’s Double Elvis.

Turk’s process of making is intensely performative, replicating in detail both the media and production methods used in Warhol’s original iconic screen print. Critically leveling the 20th century’s optimistic capitalism in a single act of hostile takeover, Turk downsizes and expropriates its heroes: abated to its most recognizable parts – face and gun details –Turk re-constructs the image as it exists in popular consciousness, insinuating himself (as Turk, as anyone, as everyone) at the core.

‘Gavin Turk’ at Patricia Low Contemporary, Geneva (1)

Gavin Turk 13th September - 27th October 2012 Patricia Low Contemporary, 10 rue de l’Arquebuse, 1204 Geneva, Switzerland www.patricialow.com

‘Gavin Turk’ at Patricia Low Contemporary, Geneva

Situation Gigi - An Auction by Artists in Aid of Gigi Giannuzzi 
7pm Thursday 20th September 
Sarah Lucas / Sadie Coles, 4 New Burlington Place, London W1S 2HS

Gigi Giannuzzi, the maverick publisher of Trolley Books and more recently TJ Boulting gallery, was recently diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas. This is devastating news for many who know him and respect his work as one of the bravest and most beautiful of creative forces, publishing through Trolley many important stories through photography, reportage and contemporary art, but also personally, as a rare and one-off crazy spirit.

To support him now, as he has helped and recognised many over the years, artists who know Gigi have donated their work for a special auction to help raise money&nbsp;for him. The funds will go towards alternative cancer treatments which he is currently seeking at a private clinic near Munich, Germany. The auction will feature works by many major artists, as well as several who have worked directly with Gigi over the years. In particular Polly Morgan and Mat Collishaw have been the driving force behind the artists and auction itself, and Sarah Lucas, who has given over her 'situations' space for the night, has hence given the name of the auction - SITUATION GIGI.

We hope that many of you will be able to support the auction by bidding on the works available either online or in person at the auction itself. Many thanks in advance for all your help and support!

The auction will be divided into two parts - the LIVE auction which will be conducted by Oliver Barker from Sotheby's on Thursday 20th September at 7pm, and also a SILENT auction which will be held online until 30th September 6pm.

All of the artworks are available to view online in advance of the live auction, and those who are unable to take part in the live auction can submit in advance their highest maximum bid by clicking the button underneath the artwork. Deadline for submitting maximum bids for LIVE auction is 5pm Thursday 20th September.

The silent auction will give people who were unable to bid or were unsuccessful bidders at the live auction another chance to buy artwork.

For more information visit www.situationgigi.com

Work shown: 'Camouflage Fright Wig Flourescent' 2007, Silkscreen on Somerset Card, Dims 100 x 100 cms framed

Situation Gigi - An Auction by Artists in Aid of Gigi Giannuzzi (4)

Situation Gigi - An Auction by Artists in Aid of Gigi Giannuzzi 7pm Thursday 20th September Sarah Lucas / Sadie Coles, 4 New Burlington Place, London W1S 2HS

Situation Gigi - An Auction by Artists in Aid of Gigi Giannuzzi

<img alt="" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-633" height="219" src="http://gavinturk.com/news/wp-content/uploads/Gavinturk_edavetiye.171737-355x219.jpg" title="Gavinturk_edavetiye.171737" width="355" />   

&nbsp;

TÜRK Private View: &nbsp;Tuesday 18th September 
Open: &nbsp;19th September - 16th October 2012 
Tepebaşı, Meşrutiyet Caddesi No: 67/1, 34430 Beyoğlu, Istanbul, Turkey 
<a href="http://www.galerist.com.tr/">www.galerist.com.tr</a>


<div id="_mcePaste">&nbsp;</div>

'TÜRK' Solo Show Opens at Galerist, Istanbul (1)

'TÜRK' Solo Show Opens at Galerist, Istanbul

&nbsp;Britain Creates 2012: Fashion + Art Collusion 
6th July – 29th &nbsp;July 2012 
Victoria and Albert Museum, London 
Evening Talk: &nbsp;7pm Friday 13th July - Tickets available <a href="http://gavinturk.us1.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=852d0907e56ce012700ea904c&amp;id=55249c20b1&amp;e=bf07e069ee">here</a>

Britain Creates 2012: Fashion + Art Collusion is a project that acknowledges and promotes the longstanding relationship between&nbsp;British fashion designers and contemporary artists in the year&nbsp;of the London 2012 Olympics.

Nine pairs of designers and artists, including Gavin Turk and Hussein Chalayan, &nbsp;were given a completely open brief to see what would emerge from the dialogue between their respective disciplines. The results encompass sculpture, video, music and photography.

Turk and Chalayan have created an audio track that&nbsp;perfectly embodies this idea. &nbsp;The very first time they met, at Turk’s studio, Chalayan interviewed Turk about his enduring preoccupation with the mythical status and identity of the Artist, with authorship and authenticity. &nbsp;When Chalayan came to edit the transcript of their conversation it suggested the lyrics of a song, and from that the idea of a track called ‘4 Minute Mile’ emerged, the duration fixed by the speed record famously broken by Roger Bannister, the tempo such that you could run or train to it. &nbsp;The track begins with the pounding of running feet and the sound of breathing, which maintains an insistent tempo throughout. &nbsp;Turk’s voice intones his reflections on art and his role as artist, while Chalayan provides melody and a chanted echo or chorus behind.

Turk &amp; Chalayan's collaboration is being exhibited at the V&amp;A throughout July, along with an accompanying catalogue.

Featuring: Hussein Chalayan + Gavin Turk 
Giles Deacon + Jeremy Deller 
Mary Katrantzou + Mark Titchner 
Nicholas Kirkwood + Simon Periton 
Peter Pilotto + Francis Upritchard 
Jonathan Saunders + Jess Flood-Paddock 
Paul Smith + Charming Baker 
Stephen Jones + Cerith Wyn Evans 
Matthew Williamson + Mat Collishaw

In addition the artist and designer will be&nbsp;in discussion with curator Susanna Greeves this Friday 13th at 7pm. Full details are available&nbsp;<a href="http://gavinturk.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=852d0907e56ce012700ea904c&amp;id=cc8100d68f&amp;e=bf07e069ee">here.</a>

The limited edition vinyl, ‘4 Minute Mile’ (pictured above), is available to purchase from The Vinyl Factory. For more information visit: <a href="http://gavinturk.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=852d0907e56ce012700ea904c&amp;id=0448921e28&amp;e=bf07e069ee">Britain Creates </a><a href="http://gavinturk.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=852d0907e56ce012700ea904c&amp;id=1e44335f02&amp;e=bf07e069ee">V&amp;A </a><a href="http://gavinturk.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=852d0907e56ce012700ea904c&amp;id=0f340b4bf8&amp;e=bf07e069ee">Vinyl Factory</a>

Britain Creates 2012: Fashion + Art Collusion (5)

 Britain Creates 2012: Fashion + Art Collusion 6th July – 29th  July 2012 Victoria and Albert Museum, London Evening Talk:  7pm Friday 13th July - Tickets available here

Britain Creates 2012: Fashion + Art Collusion

&nbsp;SNAP - Art at the Aldeburgh Festival 
9th – 24th June 2012 
Aldeburgh Music,&nbsp;Snape Maltings,&nbsp;Snape,&nbsp;Suffolk IP17 1SP <a href="http://www.snapaldeburgh.co.uk/">http://www.snapaldeburgh.co.uk/</a>

SNAP was launched in June 2011 as part of the Aldeburgh Festival’s visual arts programme. Based at the home of Aldeburgh Music at Snape Maltings on the Suffolk coast, SNAP presents leading international artists alongside some lesser-known emerging talents, all with connections to the area.

Two artists who now live and work in Suffolk, Abigail Lane and Sarah Lucas, have been instrumental in developing SNAP, and in assembling the artists involved. Sadie Coles, part-time resident in the area, was also integral to the project’s instigation. The shows are developed and coordinated by Abigail Lane in association with Aldeburgh Music.

SNAP 2012 will include Glenn Brown, May Cornet, Matthew Darbyshire with Scott King, Brian Eno, Ryan Gander, Maggi Hambling, Mark Limbrick, Gavin Turk and Emily Richardson. Again the artists will penetrate the fabric of the festival’s home by presenting both new and existing works in the foyers, concert halls, derelict buildings and outdoor sites, the result being a chance to see art in vigorous way outside a conventional gallery setting. SNAP 2012 promises to be a show as lively as the first and will incorporate painting, print, installation, sculpture and sound. The works will sit alongside permanent or long term sculptures outdoors at Snape including Barbara Hepworth’s Family of Man, Henry Moore's Large Interior Form, Alison Wilding’s Migrant and Sarah Lucas’s Perceval.

SNAP develops the existing visual arts programme that has been present since the first Aldeburgh Festival in 1948. In the past this programme has included a wide range of artists, mostly rooted in the area or linked to the music for which the festival is best known including, amongst many others, John Constable, Sydney Nolan, John Piper and Howard Hodgkin. &nbsp;Image of Gavin Turk's Kissing Stone which will be at Snap

SNAP - Art at the Aldeburgh Festival (1)

 SNAP - Art at the Aldeburgh Festival 9th – 24th June 2012 Aldeburgh Music, Snape Maltings, Snape, Suffolk IP17 1SP http://www.snapaldeburgh.co.uk/ SNAP was launched in June 2011 as part of the Aldeburgh Festival’s visual arts programme. Based at the home of Aldeburgh Music at Snape Maltings on the Suffolk coast, SNAP presents leading international artists alongside some lesser-known emerging talents, all with connections to the area.

SNAP - Art at the Aldeburgh Festival

&nbsp;Gavin &amp; Turk 
10th February – 20th April 2012 
Ben Brown Fine Arts,&nbsp;12 Brook's Mews,&nbsp;London W1K 4DG <a href="http://www.benbrownfinearts.com/">www.benbrownfinearts.com</a>

Like all artists, Gavin Turk’s name is his brand and in the schizophrenic title for this show, he turns it into a family brand.&nbsp;&nbsp; Throughout 25 years of artwork, Turk has questioned authorship, identity and the handmade.&nbsp; This new exhibition is no exception, but here, he chooses to pay homage to Alighiero Boetti, an Italian conceptual artist prominent in the sixties and seventies, who is the subject of a Tate Modern retrospective, running 28 February - 27 May 2012.

Boetti was fascinated by symbols and created embroideries of the world map, with each country made from its own flag.&nbsp; He saw his role as orchestrator, rather than executer of a work, with his original Mappa's based on a schema by friend and collaborator Rinaldo Rossi and embroidered by a team of craftswomen in Kabul, Aghanistan.

Like Boetti, Turk is collaborating with a production team to create his latest embroideries.&nbsp; The designs will be worked up by members of Fine Cell Work, a charity and social enterprise that teaches needlework to prison inmates, in order to support the rehabilitation process.&nbsp; "I think one of the interesting things about tapestry is how slowly the picture comes out of the picture frame,” says Turk.&nbsp; “It's so intense. You have to go close and further away and close and further away; it's like the image slowly unweaving itself."

Turk embraces the labour intensive production process, believing strongly in the importance of hand making as a way to artistic freedom.&nbsp; This is in direct contrast to the machine fabrication of industrial processing, referred to in the Mappa del Mundo.&nbsp; Here Turk has collected squashed rubbish - crisp packets, drinks cans, cigarette packets, etc, then collaged them into a two-dimensional world map, to prepare an image for embroidering.&nbsp; Turk’s method here renders machine made products hand-made, turning discarded, flattened objects into the ultimate luxury object: a work of art.

Gavin &amp; Turk will include a series of small 'arazzi', intricate embroideries featuring various permutations of 'GAVIN TURK', as well as various other hommages to Boetti: glimmering, gold leaf works on paper, biro pieces and a life-size bronze self-portrait.&nbsp;&nbsp; The latter is doubly referential, being Boetti’s homage to Bruce Nauman’s 1966 performance photo Self-Portrait as a Fountain, in which the artist is seen, bare-chested, spitting a jet of water into the air. In Turk’s Self-Portrait (fountain) the fully clothed artist souses himself with a garden hose.&nbsp; A heated element on the figures head sizzles and emits steam as the water hits it.&nbsp; This theatrical tragic-comic figure is poignant with a sense of every artist’s performance to make an impact.&nbsp;

'Gavin & Turk' Opens at Ben Brown Fine Arts (2)

 Gavin & Turk 10th February – 20th April 2012 Ben Brown Fine Arts, 12 Brook's Mews, London W1K 4DG www.benbrownfinearts.com

'Gavin & Turk' Opens at Ben Brown Fine Arts

Frieze Art Fair &amp; Sculpture Park 
13th October - 16th October 2011 
Regents Park, London 
<a href="http://www.aurelscheibler.com/">www.aurelscheibler.com </a> 
<a href="http://www.galerie-krinzinger.at">www.galerie-krinzinger.at 
www.friezeartfair.com</a>

Represented by Galerie Krinzinger (booth D14) and Aurel Scheibler (booth H10), Gavin Turk once again returns to Frieze Art Fair, where he will be presenting a number of works, including “Ajar”, a surreal door leading both everywhere and nowhere in the sculpture park.

Disembodied from any room, structure or building, this painted bronze door, which appears from its peeling varnish, to have been left to the elements from some years, opens or closes (depending on which way you look at it) onto infinite possibilities and nothingness, alike. A playful homage to William Blake’s famous doors of perception, visitors are invited to walk through Turk’s door into the enchanting realms of the imagination and beyond.

Ajar,&nbsp;2011 Series of 5 with 2 APs Painted bronze sculpture Dimensions: 216 x 91 x 68 cms

Frieze Art Fair 2011 (1)

Frieze Art Fair & Sculpture Park 13th October - 16th October 2011 Regents Park, London www.aurelscheibler.com www.galerie-krinzinger.at www.friezeartfair.com

Frieze Art Fair 2011

BBF 7th October – 9th October 2011 Barbican Centre,&nbsp;Silk Street, London,&nbsp;EC2Y 8DS <a href="http://www.bicyclefilmfestival.com">www.bicyclefilmfestival.com</a>

The 11th edition of the globe spanning BFF hits London with film, art, music and parties, all in the name of bikes.

Click <a href="http://vimeo.com/30018563">here</a> to see Gavin Turk and Ben Wilson ride their 4H Bike creation around the Barbican Centre before it goes on display in the foyer from this evening.

4H at The Bicycle Film Festival 2011, Barbican (1)

BBF 7th October – 9th October 2011 Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS www.bicyclefilmfestival.com The 11th edition of the globe spanning BFF hits London with film, art, music and parties, all in the name of bikes.

4H at The Bicycle Film Festival 2011, Barbican

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TWENTY
9th September - 28th October 2011
Aurel Scheibler, Charlottenstrasse 2 (in the alley), D-10969 Berlin , Germany
<a href="http://www.aurelscheibler.com">www.aurelscheibler.com</a>

 

On the 20th anniversary of Aurel Scheibler, the gallery presents TWENTY, an exhibition of works by artists it has shown since 1991 in Cologne and from 2006 onwards in Berlin.

The heterogeneity of Aurel Scheibler!s artist roster is easily explained by his taste for underestimated upcoming artists and overlooked qualities in the oeuvre of the more established. In its first year, the gallery already defined its program with solo exhibitions of Chargesheimer, Öyvind Fahlström, Joe Zucker and Jack Pierson. Scheibler further broadened it by showing Weegee, Mark Morrisroe, Bridget Riley, Dan Asher and the recently deceased Lucian Freud. Alongside establishing Pierson and Anthony Goicolea as household names in the art world, he is one of the first German gallerists to champion the art of Damien Hirst, Rachel Whiteread and Gavin Turk. More recently, Scheibler took on board two young British artists, Neil Gall and Tom Chamberlain, and premiered in Germany one of the pioneers of video art, Michel Auder.

In 2006 the gallery opened in Berlin-Charlottenburg with an exhibition of works by Ad Reinhardt and a year later added a second space near Checkpoint Charlie, which today functions as the sole gallery. While Scheibler continues to surprise the Berlin art audience with solo shows of such historical figures as Jackson Pollock or Philip Guston, he never fails to search for new artistic positions with a long-term vision and has recently shown Thomas Rentmeister, Malcolm McLaren, Wolfgang Betke and Michael Wutz. Another important aspect of his work as a gallerist is the representation of the estates of Ernst Wilhelm Nay, Fahlström and Alice Neel.

Aurel Scheibler was born in 1960 in Cologne, where he began working in the art world while still at school and, upon graduating, at the auction house Kornfeld in Bern. Later he gathered invaluable experience in the print department at the New York branch of Christie's and as an assistant in the department of sculpture and painting at the MoMA. In the 1980s he worked for Ernst Beyeler in Basel and from 1984 to 1987 for Michael Werner in Cologne. In 1990 Aurel Scheibler edited the catalogue raisonné of Ernst Wilhelm Nay's oil paintings for the Museum Ludwig in Cologne.

Gavin Turk's Cave (Edition) is included in the show, a vacform plastic reproduction of the artist's original blue plaque installation of the same title.

20 Years Aurel Scheibler
Anderson · Anonymous · Asher · Auder · Betke · Blumenfeld · Bragdon · Bruenchenhein · Cain · Chamberlain · Chargesheimer · Crabtree · Factual Nonsense · Fahlström · Freud · Gall · Goicolea · Guston · Hirschvogel · Hirst · Holstad · Hughes · Kalaman · Katz · Lefin · Lindner · Löffelhardt · von Luckwald · McCarthy · Morris · Morrisroe · Nay · Neel · Palermo · Penck · Pierson · Polke · Pollock · Reinhardt · Rentmeister · de Reus · Riley · Robilliard · Saul · Scheibitz · Scheibler · Schink · Schutter · Schwarzkogler · Selekman · Spitzer · Stappaerts · Stauss · Sullivan · Togawa · Turk · Twombly · Voigt · Warhol · Wedding · Weegee · Whiteread · Wörsel · Wurm · Wutz · Zucker

<img title="Cave (edition) small" src="http://gavinturk.com/news/wp-content/uploads/Cave-edition-small-355x293.jpg" alt="" width="355" height="293" />

Twenty at Aurel Scheibler, Berlin (1)

TWENTY 9th September - 28th October 2011 Aurel Scheibler, Charlottenstrasse 2 (in the alley), D-10969 Berlin , Germany www.aurelscheibler.com On the 20th anniversary of Aurel Scheibler, th

Twenty at Aurel Scheibler, Berlin

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Color in Flux at the Weserburg, Bremen, Germany
9th September – 29th January 2012

The exhibition 'Colour in Flux' explores how artists since Jackson Pollock have dealt with free-flowing paint. Works by the most important representatives of Abstract Expressionism and Color Field Painting will be compared with works by younger artists. Highlighting the exhibition will be new works developed in situ by Katharina Grosse, K.H. Hödicke, Peter Zimmermann, Nicolás Uriburu, Rainer Splitt, and others.

In the late 1940s, the American painter Jackson Pollock ventured a simple and at the same time seminal experiment: he laid a canvas on the floor of his studio and began applying paint to it from above. Bent forward and making movements that incorporated his entire body, he poured and dripped acrylic and ordinary paint across the painting surface. This technique, which came to be known as Action Painting, subsequently inspired entire generations of artists. One began to understand color as a flowing material with specific physical features and to use it artistically. This was consciously done counter to well-rehearsed visual habits and as a new challenge to the senses and the mind.

What followed were innovative concepts that supplemented, fundamentally reconceived, or revised Pollock’s stance. Morris Louis, Sam Francis, and Helen Frankenthaler addressed the basic physical conditions of color in flux in highly different ways. Lynda Benglis countered the “male” gesture of Pollock’s drippings with a more voluminous, “female” version made of polyurethane foam. Andy Warhol satirized Pollock’s floor painting in his Oxidation Paintings. And the American Larry Poons let paint run vertically down canvases in order to apparently bow out of the production process as author. Artists in the 21st century are also taking up this broad spectrum of color concepts. What they are interested in are new, at first glance more investigative, observant, unemotional approaches that in remarkable actions at times tie the flow of color back into everyday life. They work in part with video recordings and performances. In an almost Pollockian snapshot in time, Tony Tassett squirts chocolate syrup into the air, and Patty Chang physically exposes herself to paint being flung through the room in her Fan Dance.

Color in Flux in principle juxtaposes two artistic approaches: color as a means of artistic expression in terms of modernism and the more conceptual, experimental, even antipainterly treatment of color, in particular by younger artists. Yet despite—or even because of—these differences, it time and again comes to references and dialogues among one another, but also to the younger artists deconstructing, ironizing, and questioning their older counterparts. What is striking about this is that similar phenomena can obtain extremely different meanings. In the end, what is left is an energy-laden and captivating contrast of various artistic stances that all have one thing in common: the conscious handling of color, which as material, medium, and carrier of meaning above all turns itself into a theme.

The Kerber Verlag is publishing a richly illustrated catalogue in conjunction with the exhibition. It includes introductory essays by Peter Friese and Raimar Stange, as well as analyses by Guido Boulboullé of more than fifty works.

The featured artists are: Ai Weiwei • William Anastasi • Arman • John M. Armleder • John Baldessari • Willi Baumeister • Lynda Benglis • Patty Chang • Ron Davis • Brad Downey • Max Ernst • Ceal Floyer • Sam Francis • Helen Frankenthaler • Bernard Frize • Christian Frosch • Tom Früchtl • Katharina Grosse • K.H. Hödicke • Kristof Kintera • Kitty Kraus • Franz Krause • Gary Kuehn • Morris Louis • Joseph Marioni • Bernhard Martin • Paul McCarthy • Andreas Paeslack • Roxy Paine • Sigmar Polke • Jackson Pollock • Larry Poons • Gerhard Richter • Dieter Roth • Thomas Ruff • Karin Sander • Sarkis • Kazuo Shiraga • Robert Smithson • Oskar Schlemmer • Rainer Splitt • Christian Stock • Tony Tasset • André Thomkins • Mark Tobey • Rosemarie Trockel • Gavin Turk • Nicolás Uriburu • Andy Warhol • Lawrence Weiner • VA Wölfl • Christine Würmell • Peter Zimmermann • Larry Zox

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Turk Leaning and Painting, 2009
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Color in Flux: Exhibition celebrating the 20th anniversary of Museum Weserburg, Germany (1)

Color in Flux at the Weserburg, Bremen, Germany 9th September – 29th January 2012 The exhibition 'Colour in Flux' explores how artists since Jackson Pollock have dealt with free-flowing paint. Works by the most important representatives of Abstract Expressionism and Color Field Painting will be compared with works by younger artists.

Color in Flux: Exhibition celebrating the 20th anniversary of Museum Weserburg, Germany

&nbsp;Elgiz 10 at Proje4L/Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art,&nbsp;Maslak, Istanbul 
17th September 2011 – 16th March 2012 
www.proje4l.org

The first museum of contemporary art in Turkey, Proje4L/Elgiz Museum is hosting Gavin Turk with Turkish artists in its 10th anniversary exhibition “Elgiz 10 Istanbul” opening tomorrow.

“Elgiz 10 Istanbul” is curated by Dr. Necmi Sönmez who lives in Dusseldorf and organizes exhibitions in Europe and United States. It will be a reinterpretation of the Elgiz Collection which includes artists as Gerhard Richter, Louis Bourgeois, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Sol LeWitt, Tracy Emin, Gilbert&amp;George along with the Turkish contemporary artists as Abdurrahman Öztoprak, Ömer Uluç, Azade Köker and Bahar Oganer.

Turk will be displaying a wall mounted Turkish rug, Cave Rug along with several other works. These works will be hung on Turks Turkey Foil Wallpaper depicting hundreds of roasted turkeys. This will be the second time Gavin Turk has exhibited in Istanbul after his participation in the 6th Istanbul Biennial in 1999.

Other artists doing site-specific works to accompany the collection exhibition are Burak Bedenlier, Lale Delibaş, Nejat Satı and Iskender Yediler.&nbsp;

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Elgiz 10 Istanbul Exhibition Hosts Gavin Turk  (1)

 Elgiz 10 at Proje4L/Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art, Maslak, Istanbul 17th September 2011 – 16th March 2012 www.proje4l.org The first museum of contemporary art in Turkey, Proje4L/Elgiz Museum is hosting Gavin Turk with Turkish artists in its 10th anniversary exhibition “Elgiz 10 Istanbul” opening tomorrow.

Elgiz 10 Istanbul Exhibition Hosts Gavin Turk 

Small, Medium, Large at&nbsp;Donjon de Vez, France 
11th September - 30th October 2011

The Donjon de Vez, a private registered historic monument, will welcome for the first time in France an exhibition of 30 international artists to it's magnificent grounds.

Turk has created L'age d'Or especially for the exhibition. &nbsp;A huge bronze sculpture of a door slightly ajar.

This project has been initiated by Francis Briest, auctioneer and president of Artcurial Briest-Poulain-F. Tajan auction house and leader in his area of expertise in Modern and Contemporary Art. &nbsp;Susanne van Hagen, writer, curator and consultant to famous institutions such as the Palais de Tokyo has selected the sculptures of this exhibition.

The environment and the medieval architecture will be used in the scenography; the works, mostly monumental and outdoors will fill the park, the garden of landscape architect Pascal Cribier, as well as the XIVth century chapel.

Contributing Artists: Stefan&nbsp;Balkenhol, Sebastian&nbsp;Brajkovic, Olaf&nbsp;Breuning, Robert&nbsp;combas, Michael&nbsp;Craig-Martin, Jim Dine, Daniel Firman, Patrick&nbsp;Fleury, Laurent&nbsp;Grasso, Jeppe&nbsp;Hein, Carsten Holler, Kcho, François-Xavier&nbsp;Lalanne, Fernand&nbsp;Léger, Thomas&nbsp;Lerooy, Los&nbsp;Carpinteros, Tony&nbsp;Matelli, François&nbsp;Morellet, Hans&nbsp;Op&nbsp;de&nbsp;Beeck, Julian&nbsp;Opie, Yazid&nbsp;Oulab, Arne&nbsp;Quinze, Pablo&nbsp;Reinoso, Gavin&nbsp;Turk, Joana&nbsp;Vasconcelos, Bernar&nbsp;Venet.&nbsp;

Small, Medium, Large at Donjon de Vez, France  (1)

Small, Medium, Large at Donjon de Vez, France 11th September - 30th October 2011 The Donjon de Vez, a private registered historic monument, will welcome for the first time in France an exhibition of 30 international artists to it's magnificent grounds. Turk has created L'age d'Or especially for the exhibition.  A huge bronze sculpture of a door slightly ajar.

Small, Medium, Large at Donjon de Vez, France 

The Bunhouse 
29th July - 28th August. Regular Pub hours. 
Bob and Roberta Smith, Gavin Turk, Sarah Baker, Ben Eine

Beer mats (Or Coasters as they are also known), are a fairly innocuous addition to most bars and pubs. They are as much a part of drinking culture as salted peanuts and beer itself. But, like the local boozer, the beer mat is under threat of extinction. As pubs up and down the country close, we don’t only lose hubs of the community, but the many traditions and objects associated with them. It’s not only tegestologists (beer mat collects), who should be worried, the decline of the beer mat would mean more than the loss of a convenient bit of paper to put a phone number on at the end of the night if you’ve got lucky. If we lose the traditional beer mat we lose a whole world of culture, imagination and dreams. Beer mats for me are similar to alcohol, in that they reflect the good times and the bad in equal measure. The optimism of a great night out and the despair of whatever daily tragedy you care to mention.

When I was asked to organise a project at the Bun House, I knew I wanted to do something which integrated artworks with the setting the gallery exists within, The Bun House pub. I wanted something that would be seen by the pubs regulars as well as the arty types who come by for the shows. That’s where the beer mats came in. The idea is that for the duration of the project the artists beer mats will be placed on tables in the pub along with regular beers mats. Viewers who come to see the project will be directed to the tables where the artist’s beer mats are located in the pub. I love the idea of artists designing beer mats that will actually be used in the pub. I really hope people put their pints on them and that they are the starting point for many debates and conversations. Not just about art, but everything people talk about in pubs. Life, death, politics, football and this very galaxy we call home.

Cedar Lewisohn 2011 
www.bunhouse.com&nbsp;

The Beer Mat Show at The Bunhouse Pub, Peckham (1)

The Bunhouse 29th July - 28th August. Regular Pub hours. Bob and Roberta Smith, Gavin Turk, Sarah Baker, Ben Eine

The Beer Mat Show at The Bunhouse Pub, Peckham

HACKNEY HOARD 
22nd July – 28th August 2011 
Private View: 21st July, 2011 6-9 PM 
GALERIE8, 195-205 Richmond Road London E8 3NJ 
www.galerie8.co.uk

Coinciding with their summer launch, GALERIE8 will be opening their permanent space with the exhibition Hackney Hoard, 22nd July – 28th August, 2011.&nbsp; The exhibition is an inquiry into the value and status placed on contemporary art and the role it plays in society, regardless of its literal monetary value in terms of the materials from which it is made. For this project, GALERIE8&nbsp; will be working with artists Gavin Turk, Adam Dant, Terry Castle, Le Gun artists, Matthew Killick and the Last Tuesday Society and Annabel Tilley.

On the 12th July 2007, whilst re-landscaping their back garden, four residents of Hackney, East London, unearthed eighty mystery gold coins. Further research into the coins confirmed their interesting provenance; American, minted during the late 19th Century and buried by a Jewish man who fled from Nazi Germany in the 1940’s. After several years of investigation into the ownership of the coins, as well as an exhibition at the British Museum, they were returned to their owner – a descendant of the man who buried them. Upon their return, the Coroner’s Court of the inner North Borough of London concluded that, under legal definition, the find was in fact ‘Not Treasure’ – a result that sparked much debate.

The quest to find the proprietor of the coins had provoked much speculation and wild storytelling ensued. Using the narrative and debate that surrounds this issue of ‘what is treasure?’ GALERIE8 and renowned artist Adam Dant have initiated Hackney Hoard, a project that will explore the status of art in popular contemporary culture. The value of art is not dependent on precious materials, as treasure may be, but on this curious triangulation of value we assign between the viewer, the object and the market. Can the value we construct truly be translated into monetary terms? Let the excavation begin.

The artists involved in this project will use the discovery and narrative surrounding the Hackney Hoard as a starting point.&nbsp; Each artist will take apart the subject matter through the implementation of different explorative artistic styles and mediums.

For this exhibition, Turk will be exhibiting his&nbsp;Revolting Brick, 2008, as pictured.

Galerie8 - Hackney Hoard - 22nd July to 28th August (1)

HACKNEY HOARD 22nd July – 28th August 2011 Private View: 21st July, 2011 6-9 PM GALERIE8, 195-205 Richmond Road London E8 3NJ www.galerie8.co.uk

Galerie8 - Hackney Hoard - 22nd July to 28th August

Now in its 15th year the NOAC attracts artists across the UK, from the emerging to the established.

Turk will be chairing the judging panel for the third year in a row,&nbsp;supported by Catherine Lampert former director of the Whitechapel Gallery, Francis Hodgson photographic FT critic and Lisa Wright NOAC 2009 winner.

With £40,000 worth of prizes to be won, artists are invited to submit drawings, paintings, original prints, art photography and wall hung installations&nbsp;by the&nbsp;18th September.

For further information please visit <a href="http://www.thenationalopenartcompetition.com">www.thenationalopenartcompetition.com</a>

National Open Art Competition - Call For Entries (1)

Now in its 15th year the NOAC attracts artists across the UK, from the emerging to the established. Turk will be chairing the judging panel for the third year in a row, supported by Catherine Lampert former director of the Whitechapel Gallery, Francis Hodgson photographic FT critic and Lisa Wright NOAC 2009 winner. With £40,000 worth of prizes to be won, artists are invited to submit drawings, paintings, original prints, art photography and wall hung installations by the 18th September.

National Open Art Competition - Call For Entries

Down Stairs, a new contemporary art gallery for Herefordshire, has opened at Great Brampton House.

The gallery’s inaugural exhibition is Heartlands, a collection of work by 14 established and emerging artists, working in different mediums but united by their interest in the countryside and its relationship with British national identity.

Appearing in the grounds at Great Brampton House will be Gavin Turk’s internationally-acclaimed Oeuvre (Guinea Fowl), the last in his giant birds’ eggs series.

The house’s new owner Martin Miller will also present Metromorphosis, six of his own new sculptural installations located in the gallery and grounds, which explore the value of wit, sarcasm and wordplay.

The exhibition runs until July 31, 12 noon - 5 pm Wednesday to Sunday, and by appointment. For more details visit the <a href="http://downstairsgallery.co.uk/wp/?page_id=8">website</a>.&nbsp;

Oeuvre (Guinea Fowl) at Great Brampton House, Hereford (1)

Down Stairs, a new contemporary art gallery for Herefordshire, has opened at Great Brampton House. The gallery’s inaugural exhibition is Heartlands, a collection of work by 14 established and emerging artists, working in different mediums but united by their interest in the countryside and its relationship with British national identity. Appearing in the grounds at Great Brampton House will be Gavin Turk’s internationally-acclaimed Oeuvre (Guinea Fowl), the last in his giant birds’ eggs series.

Oeuvre (Guinea Fowl) at Great Brampton House, Hereford

&nbsp;4H is an invention by Turk and designer Ben Wilson, allowing four people to ride unicycles as a community. Designed for the View Tube in East London, next to the Olympic Park, 4H has been made as part of 'Bicycle Wheel', curated by Alice Sharp for View Tube Art as part of Create 11 Festival and is open to ride 11am - 5pm on Saturday&nbsp;2nd &amp; Sunday 3rd July at the View Tube. For more information visit&nbsp;<a href="http://www.theviewtube.co.uk/">www.theviewtube.co.uk</a>

As part of the festival, Turk will also be taking part in an evening of talks at the View Tube discussing the creation of his bike project 4H, along with the future of public art in East London. &nbsp;For more information visit <a href="http://createlondon.org/events/brief-encounters-the-future-of-public-art-in-east-london.html">Create</a>.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5xgNh629HI&amp;feature=autoplay&amp;list=ULL7JsLU9trFg&amp;index=1&amp;playnext=1 Film produced and edited by Emma Crouch

Presenting the 4H Bicycle Project - Open to Ride (1)

 4H is an invention by Turk and designer Ben Wilson, allowing four people to ride unicycles as a community. Designed for the View Tube in East London, next to the Olympic Park, 4H has been made as part of 'Bicycle Wheel', curated by Alice Sharp for View Tube Art as part of Create 11 Festival and is open to ride 11am - 5pm on Saturday 2nd & Sunday 3rd July at the View Tube. For more information visit www.theviewtube.co.uk

Presenting the 4H Bicycle Project - Open to Ride

&nbsp;ART CAR BOOT FAIR - 12-6PM SUNDAY 19TH JUNE OLD TRUMAN BREWERY, 146 BRICK LANE, LONDON E1 ENTRY £3

Now in its seventh year and returning for its most creative event yet, the Vauxhall Art Car Boot Fair announces an enviable line up of talented artists, fashion designers and fabulous performers.

This year Gavin will be amongst 60 other favorite booters selling works including Sir Peter Blake, Bob and Roberta Smith, Pam Hogg, David David, Billy Childish, Cedric Christie, Jamie Kelsey-Fry, Jessica Albarn, Lana Citron, Nick Reynolds, Pure Evil, Pete Fowler and many more....

Browsing for art bargains is not the only attraction of the day, with delicious food and&nbsp;drink courtesy of St John’s Bread and Wine’s famous ox-heart buns and the Southampton Arms, along&nbsp;with entertainment from the Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club and A Band on a Car, plus lots of opportunities to get stuck into some artistic endeavours of your own.

For more information visit &nbsp;<a href="http://www.artcarbootfair.com">www.artcarbootfair.com</a>.

Art Car Boot Fair, Brick Lane, London - Sunday 19th June (2)

 ART CAR BOOT FAIR - 12-6PM SUNDAY 19TH JUNE OLD TRUMAN BREWERY, 146 BRICK LANE, LONDON E1 ENTRY £3 Now in its seventh year and returning for its most creative event yet, the Vauxhall Art Car Boot Fair announces an enviable line up of talented artists, fashion designers and fabulous performers.

Art Car Boot Fair, Brick Lane, London - Sunday 19th June

&nbsp;GAVIN TURK'S FIRST PERMANENT PUBLIC SCULPTURE 'NAIL' UNVEILED AT ONE NEW CHANGE, CITY OF LONDON

For his first permanent public sculpture, Turk takes an oversized cast bronze nail and plants it outside Jean Nouvel’s One New Change, the most radical new addition to the City of London.

Interview with Louisa Buck:

What made you choose an oversized nail as the subject for this sculpture?

The nail fitted for me because it’s a symbolic object that you can attach meanings to: it’s a floating signifier that can stand in place of things. It’s almost like something that might appear in dreams, a kind of psychoanalytical object. It’s immediately recognizable, although due to its scale if you get&nbsp;close to it you won’t be able to see what it is, it becomes abstract and you’ll only really be able to see it at a distance. &nbsp;It was also to do with being asked to get involved in an architectural exercise and thinking about architecture and construction and, within that, the nail itself. I don’t think nails would have had much of a role in the making of this building!

So it’s quite nostalgic in a way? It’s totally nostalgic!&nbsp;

Also the fact that the nail is coming out of the ground is a sign that maybe something else&nbsp; - a larger piece of wood or material&nbsp; - was being pinned by that nail and has now been removed, so it&nbsp;almost talks about the space around the thing itself and the nail becomes like a kind of gap or hole.

Is it based on any particular kind of nail? 

In fact it’s a nail for wood but I see it as an archetype, the most generalized form of nail. I want the viewer to feel that they can understand it in their own way – that they can understand it more generally rather than having to feel specific about it. Had it been, say, a square nail for a floorboard, a horseshoe nail&nbsp;or an upholstery tack it’s particular purpose might stop you from being able to think more widely about it.&nbsp; It’s function is to be a nail and nothing else.

Is it important that this is a rusty nail and so appears to carry a previous history?

The rustiness talks about the use and function of the thing itself. It implies that it has already been used and so now is not that useful. If it had been a newish nail it would have been more about its potential use, whereas by being already rusty it can only get more rusty still. The fact of it looking like its been there for longer than anything else in the surrounding area offsets against the new modern glass building; and I was also interested in the idea of involving a natural process&nbsp; to suggest the idea of the elements interfering with a man- made thing.

How did you decide the scale? 

I wanted it to be big enough so there’s a point where you come into contact with it, you can touch it&nbsp; but you can’t see the whole sculpture. It vanishes as a nail and it just becomes a tree, a kind of organic pole or column where you can only see the intricate surface. It has a kind of Claes Oldenberg slapstick comedy to it as well, just enlarging the size of something has the effect of miniaturizing everything else around it:&nbsp; there’s a kind of comic element to it, it’s possible to imagine a huge hammer&nbsp;banging it in.

You’ve cast other everyday objects in bronze - apple cores, spent matches, dustbin bags. By casting the most ordinary of ordinary nails in bronze are you playing with and off the whole art historical heritage of such a grand monumental medium? 

I think that Nail is quite self consciously a sculpture. What I tend to do is cast something in bronze and then paint it back to look like the object that it formerly was,&nbsp;whereas in this case I’m creating this nail in bronze then patinating it using a heat process and various ferric patinas to make it look like a rusty nail. In itself this is a process that’s developed for putting things outside, a bonded surface which will keep it looking rusty - although its not going to rust any more. I’m not making it out of Corten steel like an Antony Gormley or a Richard Serra sculpture where the steel rusts to a surface and then seals it,&nbsp;because the rust would then be at a natural, small scale. What I wanted was to present rust on a large scale, so that the rust as well as the nail is blown up.

The nail also has a very specific Christian connotations, was this a factor in its conception? 

It’s certainly an obvious point of reference and it may be a route into thinking about the piece, but I’m not necessarily talking about that. Of course I am very, very aware and conscious of St Paul’s and to do anything in this part of the city has to take the cathedral into consideration and to have a relationship with it. There was also a real concern about sightlines and looking through the building and still being able to see the cathedral and so on a formal level I found myself thinking about something tall and thin which could be positioned on the outside of the building. In a way it’s like a big marker to the site, saying ‘I am here’.

This is your first permanent outdoor public sculpture, did you approach it differently from your other work?

It is a very hard thing to do to make a successfully functioning public sculpture. You can either make something that’s acutely local and specific and part of the education of an area, or maybe you&nbsp;make something so abstract that everyone is equally unable to recognize it. I suppose I’ve done something in the middle: I’ve made something that is abstract when you are close by, but when you get further away you might recognize it as a giant nail. Quite often what&nbsp;happens is that people take a smaller sculpture and then blow it up really large to make a public sculpture - I took a rusty nail that was already made and I blew it up really big and hopefully that direct approach can be communicated to the person who recognizes that it is a nail. There’s one point where, at its slight 5ºangle, the nail seems to pin the building to the ground:&nbsp; the building has been described as some sort of stealth bomber and I like the idea that the nail is holding it down.

Find Turk's Nail at the entrance of <a href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&amp;q=new+change+street&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;z=16">One New Change, New Change Street, London, EC4M 9AF.</a>&nbsp;

Introducing Turk's First Permanent Public Sculpture (1)

 GAVIN TURK'S FIRST PERMANENT PUBLIC SCULPTURE 'NAIL' UNVEILED AT ONE NEW CHANGE, CITY OF LONDON For his first permanent public sculpture, Turk takes an oversized cast bronze nail and plants it outside Jean Nouvel’s One New Change, the most radical new addition to the City of London. Interview with Louisa Buck: What made you choose an oversized nail as the subject for this sculpture?

Introducing Turk's First Permanent Public Sculpture

&nbsp;Water has a great esoteric significance as the source of life. It is the matrix in the form of amniotic fluid and primordial water that preserves, and is the beginning of life. In ancient cosmologies water, as a primordial component, is a vital principle understood as a means of regeneration".

What makes the fountains so special? Their style or the water flowing through them? ‘Fountain Show’, Reggio Emilia, presents the work of 11 internationally renowned artists, invited by dispari&amp;dispari project to build a fountain. This is not exactly a themed group show, but rather a work in progress that that will define the very concept of the exhibition during the opening days. ‘Fountain Show’ is a project that has developed over several months through conversations with the invited artists, who have been asked to reflect on the possible styles and values, perhaps even Utopian, of fountains in contemporary society. - Steven Claydon, Flavio Favelli, Peter Goi, Brian Griffith, Thomas Kilpper, Erik Van Lieshout, Katrin Plavcak, Cullinan Richards, Patrick Tuttofuoco, Gavin Turk, Alterazioni Video and Klaus Weber.

This device [that of a fountain], which has historically accompanied humanity in all its’ progress, has undergone a constant process of transformation that slowly changes its’ form and valor in a continuous alteration of its’ roles. For example between its’ possible social function, collecting and distributing water, as architectural function or as design element throughout a city. The presented works, many of them made especially for the exhibition, will be installed in the exhibitions’ space - as if an outdoor garden, and will welcome and entertain the audience with fantastic water games and peculiar sounds. Hair Fountains, organic sculptures, installation, video installation, paintings and drawings are just some of the fountains both real and not real that are at the heart of the exhibition.

The exhibition Fountain Show opens the 7th May and will be open to the public until September 18, 2011.

For more information about times and opening days please visit www.dispariedispari.org

Fountain Show at Dispari & Dispari, Italy (1)

 Water has a great esoteric significance as the source of life. It is the matrix in the form of amniotic fluid and primordial water that preserves, and is the beginning of life. In ancient cosmologies water, as a primordial component, is a vital principle understood as a means of regeneration".

Fountain Show at Dispari & Dispari, Italy

Gavin Turk to give Printmaking Lecture at The London Original Print Fair

The London Original Print Fair will present a Printmaking Lecture as part of the 26th Print Fair. &nbsp;"Talking Turk‟ will feature artist Gavin Turk in conversation with art critic Louisa Buck on Tuesday 19 April 2011.&nbsp; The lecture will be held in the John Madejski Fine Rooms at the Royal Academy of&nbsp;Arts.

Turk, whose work has always dealt with issues of democracy and authorship in art, has increased&nbsp;his printmaking output in recent times.&nbsp; As well as generating his own editions, he has&nbsp;commissioned a print portfolio “The House of Fairytales Print Portfolio” from a group of leading&nbsp;British artists.&nbsp; He will discuss methods and importance of printmaking in his work and release a&nbsp;new print made exclusively for the Fair 'Fright Wig Green' (2011). &nbsp;

The longest-running specialist print fair in the world, the London Original Print Fair had only sixteen&nbsp;exhibitors when it launched in 1985.&nbsp; For the 2011 event there will be over fifty exhibitors.

Works on sale range from as little as £100 to over £100,000, from etchings by Canaletto and&nbsp;engravings by Hogarth, to the works of established contemporary artists such as Peter Blake and&nbsp;David Hockney.&nbsp; Over the years printmaking has become central to the work of leading&nbsp;contemporary artists, such as Richard Hamilton, Marc Quinn and Gary Hume.&nbsp; Meanwhile, prints&nbsp;from the Royal Academy Schools and the Royal College of Art will offer an opportunity to buy work&nbsp;by emerging artists. For the first time in its history the Fair is delighted to host the Royal Academy Schools, who will&nbsp;showcase the latest work from the print department. Eileen Cooper RA, Head of Printmaking, says:&nbsp;“Over the past two years we have been inviting artists, some of whom are Royal Academicians, to work with us to produce high-quality prints. They come to our print workshops and work side by side with our students to produce a wide variety of limited edition prints, some of which will be exhibited at 2011’s Fair. These co-publications help raise funds to support students.” Exhibitors who have shown since the Fair began include: Christopher Mendez (Old Master) and&nbsp;Andrew Edmunds, London‟s leading specialist in caricature prints, Picasso expert Frederick&nbsp;Mulder, (Old Masters and Modern), William Weston (Modern French), Gordon Samuel of Osborne&nbsp;Samuel and Hilary Gerrish (Modern British).

Helen Rosslyn, Fair Organiser says: “One of the joys of this Print Fair is that it embraces art of all periods. Many visitors comment on the excitement of coming to see contemporary prints and discovering a seventeenth century etching for just a few hundred pounds on the next-door stand. We have chosen this year’s Fair image (A detail from Grayson Perry’s ‘Map of Nowhere’) in recognition of the importance of old master prints to some of today’s finest printmakers”.

"The Fair has really helped to bring more awareness to printmaking and its importance in the working lives of artists such as Ana Maria Pacheco,‟ says Susan Pratt of Pratt Contemporary.

Falling this year during the week preceding Easter, the Fair has organised an exciting programme&nbsp;of talks, demonstrations and children‟s workshops, made possible by the generous support of&nbsp;Towry, the Wealth Advisers. Andrew Fisher, CEO of Towry says: "We are delighted to become associated with this event and share their ambition to bring art alive, by explaining what prints are, demonstrating how they are made and encouraging children to make their own”.&nbsp; The programme&nbsp;will include a print demonstration by artist Tom Hammick&nbsp; (past winner of the RA Summer&nbsp;Exhibition Printmaking Prize), guided tours by venerable printmaker Norman Ackroyd and a Young&nbsp;Collectors‟ Evening with tour by artist Adam Bridgland and TAG Fine Arts.

The full list of the exhibitors and an events programme will be released in the lead up to the Fair.

Listings information: 
The London Original Print Fair 2011 
Main Galleries, Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1 
www.londonprintfair.com

Fair Opening Hours: 
Tuesday and Wednesday 10am – 9pm 
Thursday 10am – 6pm

Fair Admissions: 
Ticket £10 inc. catalogue 
Concessions £7 inc. catalogue 
Free to Friends of the RA 
Catalogue £7 
Catalogue for friends &amp; corporate £5

The London Original Print Fair at Royal Academy of Arts (1)

Gavin Turk to give Printmaking Lecture at The London Original Print Fair The London Original Print Fair will present a Printmaking Lecture as part of the 26th Print Fair.  "Talking Turk‟ will feature artist Gavin Turk in conversation with art critic Louisa Buck on Tuesday 19 April 2011.  The lecture will be held in the John Madejski Fine Rooms at the Royal Academy of Arts.