Artworks2023Ocado Cinnamon Powder, Stainswich Farm Rapeseed Oil, Yeo Valley Organic Semi Skimmed Milk, Bio&Me Seedy and Nutty Granola, Farm Shop Organic Free Range Eggs

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

'It’s a kind of proto-realistic method that includes images of not only what we throw away but a genre of painting’

Initially pointing to antiquity as if containing an echo of a more innocent, bygone era, hidden stories start to be exposed as the shape of these contemporary vessels tell the story of consumerism, plastic and our addiction to fossil fuels. Referencing the present as well as the past, they serve as relics of our ever-evolving material culture. The design of the tabasco or olive oil bottles evoke the glass jars of the apothecary where once these elixirs would have been purchased, subconsciously instilling faith and worth in the product. This exploration of pathos and nostalgia serves as a reminder that in the detritus of our disposable culture, there exists elusive meaning that can unlock the clues to what we might actually wish to take forward into our future.