Superimposing his own identity and brand onto famous celebrities and associated art legends, Gavin Turk’s self portraits play a game of subterfuge with authorship and mythology. Turk’s process of making is intensely performative, his prints replicate in detail both the media and production methods used by Andy Warhol. In works from his Elvis series, Turk humorously declares himself heir to the titles of King of Rock and Pop, striking the pose of Warhol’s Double Elvis. These palimpsest references underpin his self-portrait as Sid Vicious, one icon converging via collective consciousness with another, evolving heroically to Turk’s own image.
Accompanying these exhibitions will be a selection of paintings, photographs and sculptural works by John Bauer, Gary Hume, Marilyn Minter, Anselm Reyle, and Sterling Ruby: ranging from Bauer’s futuristic canvases with their metallic layers and solarized effects, to Minter’s scandalously seductive photo abstractions, to Hume’s anthropomorphic sculptures entrancing with their sense of movement and elegance. Reyle’s material works are neither sculpture nor painting but rather low-tech assemblages that transform optical trickery into high-design spectacle: Untitled encases crinkled foil in a coloured Plexiglas case creating a microcosm of UV glow expressionism, while his White Earth, an abstract bas relief coated in high-gloss white lacquer, elevates primitive gesture to the clinically sublime.
