in terms of the history of art, from the objects of devotion, adoration or reverence that i once believed were the physical manifestation of beauty and art (but are perhaps only highly-crafted artefacts, objects of ritual and faith), i now see the contemporary art scene overrun by irreverence, vandalism and subversion - it's clever to be ironic, it's fun to be subversive, it's crafty to be non-crafted.it's art poking fun at itself and others, the absurdity of it, its being, its making, non-art becomes high art, the non-original is somehow now unique... it's an art spawned from the fallout of a messed-up world, to be torn apart and reassembled, painted over, repositioned, upsized, downscaled, remodelled, appropriated, stolen, created from the everyday, the mundane, the bad, and the plain ugly… it's uncool to be a mere object of beauty, anything is art these days, even a tea stain.. (we all have one of these original works at home)..
Gavin Turk Tea Stain 2004, tea on paper, 245 x 335 mm (unique edition of 1000, actual prints may vary)currently for sale on gavin turk's own website at £172.50 (inc. VAT)gavin turk studied at the royal college of art (at the same time as myself), but he was refused his degree, having made a blue plaque for his exhibition space with the words 'Borough of Kensington, Gavin Turk, Sculptor 1989 - 1991 worked here' (now seen as a seminal work in his oeuvre), which made a comment on the cult of the famous, ironically inventing a future version himself as notable artist, without having created or exhibited any major body work (he studied sculpture). it was a kind of of wish-fulfillment... and it worked..gavin turk's print tea stain fits in with the natural evolution of his work, in the ongoing concept of questioning the authenticity of art and its maker, and like duchamp, the everyday becomes art in the right context. tea stain perfectly symbolises the labour or hand of the artist, yet it is essentially a non-planned, non-thing, but by repeated printing it becomes an act of deliberate creation, calculated within a game of chance.perhaps it was born out of one of those serendipitous moments in the art studio, when the artist is thinking: what should i create, where do i start? when contemplating the surface of a workdesk? here, turk continues to reinvent the brand of gavin turk as the successful artist, in the history of another artist, a doppleganger, the artist he aspires to be.gavin turk created his first signed canvas in 1991 - his signature back then had the stylish appeal and mark of someone apparently important when seen blown up in scale, and it provided a basic critique on the false importance we place on names, the stamp of the artist that authenticates the artwork.the signature signature style of gavin turk is deliberately challenged by its multiple reproductions - but is an art joke only funny the first time? - re-appropriated and re-purposed like the 'picasso signature' badge on a citroen car - it's all about association.turk has appropriated the works of many artists (notably warhol, and more recently pollock in his new york show) and ironically situates himself as both the creator of the work and its subject matter, at the same time questioning the cult that surrounds the dead artist. manifestations of the gavin turk signature continue to be a key theme in his work, as a mirror with his signature [Your Authorised Reflection 2009] extends this idea even further when it reflects a limitless series of gavin turk signed portraits of the viewer...the art dealers and critics take this work very seriously, even when turk seems to mock the art establishment, the commodification of art... the problem with tea stain is that although it raises questions about the authorship and validity of art, by making it for sale as an edition (and those that buy into it; some 500 have sold apparently) it flips back on any subversion, it's plain old establishment art after all...and if you should hesitate to say, but i could do that! or is it art? this is exactly the sort of idea that gavin turk is seeking to provoke...view gavin turk's latest exhibition of work, jazz (after jackson pollock), at the sean kelly gallery in new york, or see more of his work here. he's not currently represented by whitecube, but you can read a couple of past articles there.