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.