Article & interview between Gavin & Mark Beech
Gavin Turk is constantly changing his art. We have had huge nails; waxwork figures of himself as Sid Vicious; silkscreens of the artist dressed as Elvis Presley; painted bronzes of tiny rotting apples and plastic garbage bags; images of Ford Transits in the “White Van Man” series, and the “Cycle Line” series created by bicycle tires covered in black paint. Now he has gone back to the egg, quite literally, for a solo show and subsequent art competition.
Turk’s “En OEuf” exhibition at Maruani Mercier, Brussels, earlier this winter, built on his reputation as one of the most imaginative of the one-time YBAs, Young British Artists. Now he plans a global picture contest based on eggs.
The egg, recalling the birth of life and so much else, joins other potent artistic symbols such as candles and skulls: Think of Gerhard Richter’s works, or those of Turk’s fellow onetime “Young British Artist,” Damien Hirst.
Turk, born in 1967, spoke in a video interview at his East London studio about the latest show and his varied canon of works. He currently sports a large moustache and artist beret along with a painter’s blue overall.
Read the full interview here.