GAVIN TURK
2024
1000 x 500 x 100 mm
Cabinet: 1030 x 530 x 1950 mm
Contorted willow, calliphoridae flies
 
This tableau of bottle Flies on contorted willow is referencing the spectacular Victorian irridescent hummingbird display in the Natural History Museum as well as the flies that sense decay and death sometimes before the flora or fauna has actually died. 
 
Gavin Turk (b 1967) is a British born, international artist. He has pioneered many forms of contemporary British sculpture, including the painted bronze, the waxwork, the recycled art-historical icon and the use of waste in art. Turk’s Oeuvre deals with conversations of authorship and identity. Concerned with the ‘myth’ of the artist and the authenticity of a work.
Prestel published a monograph on Gavin Turk in 2013, showcasing more than two decades of his work and in 2014 Trolley Books published ‘This Is Not A Book About Gavin Turk’ which playfully explores themes associated with the artist’s work via thirty notable contributors.
Gavin Turk has been commissioned to create several large public sculptures including: Nail, a 12-meter eponymous sculpture at One New Change, next to St Paul’s cathedral, London, England. Axis Mundi (2017), an oversized painted bronze sculpture of a plug located in Paddington Basin, London. As well as L’Âge d’Or (2019), a large bronze open door permanently sited outside the Museum of Migration in Rotterdam.
 
www.gavinturk.com