Gavin Turk (b 1967) is a British born, international artist. He has pioneered many forms of contemporary British sculpture now taken for granted, including the painted bronze, the waxwork, the recycled art-historical icon and the use of rubbish in art.

Turk’s installations and sculptures deal with issues of authorship, authenticity and identity. Concerned with the ‘myth’ of the artist and the ‘authorship’ of a work, Turk’s engagement with this modernist, avant-garde debate stretches back to the ready-mades of Marcel Duchamp.

Gavin Turk (b 1967) is a British born, international artist. He has pioneered many forms of contemporary British sculpture now taken for granted, including the painted bronze, the waxwork, the recycled art-historical icon and the use of rubbish in art. Turk’s installations and sculptures deal with issues of authorship, authenticity and identity. Concerned with the ‘myth’ of the artist and the ‘authorship’ of a work, Turk’s engagement with this modernist, avant-garde debate stretches back to the ready-mades of Marcel Duchamp.

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Celebrating four decades of ground-breaking contemporary art, The Long Now is an expansive group show presenting new works by iconic artists closely associated with the Gallery’s dynamic history, alongside fresh voices from a new generation.Spanning two floors and nine major exhibition spaces, the exhibition features special commissions, installations, painting and sculpture, and culminates with Richard Wilson’s iconic 20:50. A landmark in Saatchi Gallery’s history, 20:50 has been shown at each of the Gallery’s past locations and now, for the first time, is presented on the top floor.Filling the space with recycled engine oil, it creates a mirrored environment that both disorients and captivates. In the context of today’s climate crisis, the work takes on renewed resonance, inviting reflection on the fragility of our surroundings, community, and environmental uncertainty.The Long Now takes its name from a concept of fostering long-term thinking and challenging throwaway culture. Newly created works appear alongside historic pieces that remain impactful and relevant, continuing Saatchi Gallery’s tradition of showing art of the present while giving artists the space to realise ambitious ideas.The exhibition opens with works exploring process and mark-making – a fundamental human gesture reimagined by Alice Anderson, Rannva Kunoy and Carolina Mazzolari. This spirit of experimentation runs through works by Tim Noble, André Butzer, Dan Colen, Jake Chapman and Polly Morgan, who push subject, style and scale.At the centre stands Jenny Saville’s monumental Passage (2004). Combining strength and beauty, it exemplifies her ambition to “be a painter of modern life, and modern bodies.” The work anchors the exhibition’s energy, inviting a powerful and intimate encounter with the human form.Painting, a constant in Saatchi Gallery’s programme, is further represented by Alex Katz, Michael Raedecker, Ansel Krut, Martine Poppe and Jo Dennis, alongside new and emerging voices who continue to expand the medium’s possibilities.Immersive installations shift the focus from viewing to participation. Allan Kaprow’s YARD, with its chaotic arrangement of tyres, encourages movement and play, while Conrad Shawcross’s suspended Golden Lotus (Inverted) transforms a vintage car into a kinetic sculpture, prompting reflection on transformation, agency and the role of the viewer.The exhibition raises questions of technology and the future, with Chino Moya, Mat Collishaw and Tom Hunter reflecting on surveillance, automation and AI – considering how the digital world permeates contemporary life.Themes of fragility and climate change weave throughout. Gavin Turk’s fractured Bardo suggests cultural decay and the precarious balance between permanence and collapse, while works by Olafur Eliasson, Chris Levine and Frankie Boyle use light to create moments of contemplation. Environmental concerns are explored by Edward Burtynsky, Steven Parrino, Peter Buggenhout, Ibrahim Mahama, Ximena Garrido Lecca and Christopher Le Brun, who address extraction, waste and renewal.Curated by Philippa Adams (Senior Director, Saatchi Gallery 1999- 2020).Featured artists: Alice Anderson, Olivia Bax, Frankie Boyle, Edward Burtynsky, Peter Buggenhout, André Butzer, Jake Chapman, Mat Collishaw, Dan Colen, John Currin, Jo Dennis, Zhivago Duncan, Olafur Eliasson, Rafael Gómezbarros, Ximena Garrido-Lecca, Damien Hirst, Tom Hunter, Henry Hudson, Alex Katz, Allan Kaprow, Maria Kreyn, Ansel Krut, Rannva Kunoy, Christopher Le Brun, Chris Levine, Ibrahim Mahama, Carolina Mazzolari, Jeff McMillan, Misha Milovanovich, Polly Morgan, Ryan Mosley, Chino Moya, Tim Noble, Alejandro Ospina, Steven Parrino, Martine Poppe, Michael Raedecker, Sterling Ruby, Jenny Saville, Conrad Shawcross, Soheila Sokhanvari, John Squire, Dima Srouji, Gavin Turk, Richard Wilson, Alexi Williams Wynn.

Mirrors

Celebrating four decades of ground-breaking contemporary art, The Long Now is an expansive group show presenting new works by iconic artists closely associated with the Gallery’s dynamic history, alongside fresh voices from a new generation.

The Long Now: Saatchi Gallery at 40

Things are everywhere. We create them, collect them, cherish them, give them meaning, and just as easily discard them. Artists notice what we often overlook — hidden within all these objects around us: the stories, memories, societal developments, and even new artworks. In the collection exhibition The Life of Things, Voorlinden delves into the world of objects: what do they really reveal about us?With sculptures, still lifes, readymades, and installations, the artists in the collection exhibition The Life of Things reveal what the objects around us convey — about our relationships, systems, and the meanings we create through them. The exhibition opens with the impressive work Famished Road (2023) by Ibrahim Mahama. He has constructed a monumental 5-by-10-metre wall made up of around 2,000 shoemaker’s boxes. Created especially for Voorlinden, the work almost obstructs the passageway, embodying histories while exuding life and hope.‘When you really think about it, it is truly breathtaking how many things you surround yourself with. In The Life of Things, we delve into the world of things. What are they doing here? What histories do they harbour? And what do they say about us?’ – Suzanne Swarts, director VoorlindenCollection Voorlinden reflected From Ai Weiwei, Hans Op de Beeck, and Michael Craig-Martin to Sun Yitian, Gavin Turk, and Wouter Paijmans – the exhibition The Life of Things reflects the breadth of the Voorlinden collection. It showcases works by both internationally renowned artists and emerging talent from the Low Countries, alongside globetrotters such as He Xiangyu and Anouk Kruithof. The latter constructs a pixelated landscape at Voorlinden using 3,500 books from the former GDR. Each book has its own story, and together they reflect how digitalisation seems to be replacing the physical object. The Life of Things concludes with an installation by Oliver Beer, giving a voice to objects from all eras and across the world.‘Artists in The Life of Things have put their ear to things like shoe maker boxes, stools, books, school chairs and fire hoses and invite you to do the same. You’ll discover that things are containers of stories; they are anything but silent.’ – Barbara Bos, head of exhibitions

Things are everywhere. We create them, collect them, cherish them, give them meaning, and just as easily discard them. Artists notice what we often overlook — hidden within all these objects around us: the stories, memories, societal developments, and even new artworks. In the collection exhibition The Life of Things, Voorlinden delves into the world of objects: what do they really reveal about us?

The Life of Things

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’.

Courtesy of Gavin Turk’s studio and Ben Brown Fine Arts.

Further information <a href="https://ysp.org.uk/art-outdoors/oeuvre-verdigris">here</a>.&nbsp;

Eggs

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.

Gavin Turk: Oeuvre (Verdigris)

This October, Gavin Turk will present across Frieze London, Frieze Masters, and a series of Frieze week related events in London.&nbsp;At Frieze London, Turk will be represented on the Galeries Krinzinger (Booth A12), presenting two works, <a href="https://www.gavinturk.com/artworks/2013/argon-candle">Argon Candle</a> &amp; <a href="https://www.gavinturk.com/artworks/2019/pistolettos-used-tea-cup-bite-marks">Pistoletto's Bitten Cup</a>. At Frieze Masters, Ben Brown Fine Arts (Booth E13) will show an early work entitled G.T.E.G.G.&nbsp;As part of Frieze Week, programming, Turk will join Kate Spicer for a live conversation at <a href="https://www.theroofgardens.com/">Kensington Roof Gardens</a>, titled 'Don't Look Back: Art, Media and Myth in the 90's'. Together they revisit a decade when art, journalism and celebrity collided, from YBAs to tabloid takedowns, the glamour of the party scene to the grit of counterculture.&nbsp;Turk is also featured in 'Dreaming Together' at <a href="https://www.frieze.com/event/london-launch-party-dreaming-together-groucho-club">The Groucho Club</a>, a collaboration with Bompas &amp; Parr, exploring sleep, art and the subconscious. The project includes Turk's contribution to a collective 'dream menu' and a DJ set at the launch.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.frieze.com/fairs/frieze-london-frieze-masters">Frieze London and Frieze Masters </a>take place from 15th - 19th October 2025, in The Regents Park, London.&nbsp;

G.T.E.G.G, 1997 

This October, Gavin Turk will present across Frieze London, Frieze Masters, and a series of Frieze week related events in London. At Frieze London, Turk will be represented on the Galeries Krinzinger (Booth A12), presenting two works, Argon Candle & Pistoletto's Bitten Cup. At Frieze Masters, Ben Brown Fine Arts (Booth E13) will show an early work entitled G.T.E.G.G. 

Gavin Turk at Frieze London, Frieze Masters and Frieze Week Projects 

Maisie Lillywhite, BBC News, Gloucestershire &amp; Alice Bouverie, BBC News, Gloucestershire,The works of more than 50 sculptors are being featured in a trail 100ft (30m) beneath the ground in caves this summer.Back to the Cave – The Full Spectrum, opened at Clearwell Caves in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire on 23 May.Seventy modern and contemporary artworks, including pieces by Damien Hirst and Lynn Chadwick, are dotted along the 1800ft-long (500m) trail.Ochre paint pigment has been mined from the natural cave system near Coleford for at least 5,000 years – providing inspiration to organisers to use it as a space for art.Ochre paint pigment has been mined from the natural cave system near Coleford for at least 5,000 years – providing inspiration to organisers to use it as a space for art.As visitors get deeper into the caves, the colours in the exhibition become more vibrant. Colin Reid from Stroud, a glass artist, created a bright red hoop that glows in the dark. "I was so chuffed to see it but I'm pleased with the colour and the form in this setting, so that you can look through the piece and the cave goes on behind," he said.Rungwe Kingdon, a co-creator of the exhibition, said putting the art in the caves created "childlike wonder"."However well-known the art is, it makes it very accessible in the sense that it makes it into an adventure," he said.Clearwell Caves are part of a Natural England-designated Site of Special Scientific Interest and the Wye Valley Special Area of Conservation due to the large number of lesser horseshoe bats.The caves have been used as a filming location for TV shows including Doctor Who, The Winter King and Merlin.Read full piece by clicking <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgq335gp951o">here</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;

BBC Article 

Maisie Lillywhite, BBC News, Gloucestershire & Alice Bouverie, BBC News, Gloucestershire,The works of more than 50 sculptors are being featured in a trail 100ft (30m) beneath the ground in caves this summer.Back to the Cave – The Full Spectrum, opened at Clearwell Caves in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire on 23 May.Seventy modern and contemporary artworks, including pieces by Damien Hirst and Lynn Chadwick, are dotted along the 1800ft-long (500m) trail.

Sculpture trail that's 100ft below the ground

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

Ben Brown Fine Arts is thrilled to announce ‘The Conspiracy of Blindness’, our fifth solo exhibition of British artist Gavin Turk at the London gallery (15th March – 10th May). The exhibition will reveal a recent series of still-life paintings that pay homage to early 20th century Italian artist Giorgio Morandi. In typical Turk style, he has subverted Morandi’s serene arrangements of vases and handmade vessels, by replacing the models with quotidian product packaging.The paintings in this anachronistic series are meticulously executed in a restricted tonal palette against a monochrome ground, some of the objects highlighted in accents of colour, inviting a close study of the rhythmically arranged lines and forms. The audience is encouraged to explore these curious juxtapositions, as empty containers from used products are elevated to classical models, while simultaneously reminding us of our consumer driven culture.

Ben Brown Fine Arts is thrilled to announce ‘The Conspiracy of Blindness’, our fifth solo exhibition of British artist Gavin Turk at the London gallery (15th March – 10th May). The exhibition will reveal a recent series of still-life paintings that pay homage to early 20th century Italian artist Giorgio Morandi. In typical Turk style, he has subverted Morandi’s serene arrangements of vases and handmade vessels, by replacing the models with quotidian product packaging.

The Conspiracy of Blindness

MARUANI MERCIER is pleased to present Still Life, an exhibition of a new series of paintings by Gavin Turk, on view at the Knokke Zeedijk gallery from December 23, 2023 to January 21, 2024. In Still Life, Turk carefully paints images of product packaging arranged in a way that recalls the work of the artist Giorgio Morandi. Each work is uniquely framed, creating an impression that each work has had its own journey and has been brought back together for this exhibition. Conflating the slow and layered painterly process of classical still life with images of disposable objects, the works highlight the ever-accelerating pace of consumption in the present-day economy. “It’s a kind of proto-realistic method that includes images of not only what we throw away but a genre of painting.” – Gavin Turk The paintings are executed in a restricted tonal palette against a monochrome ground, some of the objects are highlighted in accents of colour, inviting a close study of rhythmically arranged lines and forms. Empty bottles in glass and plastic, reflect the hues of nearby objects, simultaneously alluding to the shortness of their shelf-life. Foregrounding empty containers as classical still-life models, Turk addresses the awkward invisibility of these items, designed to be discarded and ultimately devoid of tangible value to the consumer in a culture driven by convenience. Stripped of labels or branding, the quotidian nature of the shapes is nevertheless obvious in artwork titles which list all products employed in the composition in a kind of diaristic fashion. Indeed, all the products featured in the series were used by the artist or his friends and family, suggesting an unexpected role of food containers as traces of one’s presence over time. He says, "We are what we throw away." Presenting a considerable variance in shapes, the objects in the paintings emerge as relics of our material culture. Designed to evoke a specific psychic response, such as desire or trust in the product, images of packaging here summon a reflection on the nature and repercussions of our day-to-day consumer choices. This exploration of pathos and nostalgia serves as a reminder that in the detritus of our disposable culture, there exists an elusive meaning that can unlock the clues to what we might wish to take forward into our future.

MARUANI MERCIER is pleased to present Still Life, an exhibition of a new series of paintings by Gavin Turk, on view at the Knokke Zeedijk gallery from December 23, 2023 to January 21, 2024. In Still Life, Turk carefully paints images of product packaging arranged in a way that recalls the work of the artist Giorgio Morandi. Each work is uniquely framed, creating an impression that each work has had its own journey and has been brought back together for this exhibition.

Inside the Studio: Gavin Turk On His New Series 'Still Life

Enter the studio of British artist Gavin Turk as he describes his artistic style and past work in our first Inside the Artist's Studio (ITAS) of our 2022 Winter Auction.

Lot 200. Gavin Turk, 4 Eggs. Photograph on Paper.

Enter the studio of British artist Gavin Turk as he describes his artistic style and past work in our first Inside the Artist's Studio (ITAS) of our 2022 Winter Auction. Lot 200. Gavin Turk, 4 Eggs. Photograph on Paper.

The Long Now: Saatchi Gallery at 40 Saatchi Gallery

The Life of Things Museum Voorlinden

Gavin Turk: Oeuvre (Verdigris) Yorkshire Sculpture Park

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Gavin Turk at Frieze London, Frieze Masters and Frieze Week Projects

Sculpture trail that's 100ft below the ground

Article - Wallpaper* by Rowland Bagnall

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The Conspiracy of Blindness

Inside the Studio: Gavin Turk On His New Series 'Still Life

A New Way of Seeing: Inside the Artist's Studio with Gavin Turk