Greetings and welcome to Its Not a Tumor. Apologies for the delay in commencing but in between bouts of utter disillusionment at the poverty-stricken sparsity of the post-Michaelis world I’ve been vacationing in Nature’s Valley. The idea was for this to result in some rant about the commercial nature of art in that scenic neck of ridiculous 60 zones; although, truth be told, it’s just not worth the effort. Art in the Garden Route can essentially be broken down as such:




Hot. Granted that last one was part of a SA Wildlife Conservation awareness poster but “Hey!” it speaks to me. Which is more than I can say for the deck chairs.

Moving closer afield, we have Gavin Turk at the Goodman Gallery Cape. Looking at the show, I keep thinking back to the Thomas Mulcaire exhibition last year, one that I quite enjoyed. The comparison is not an unfair one, both come with pretty sizeable reputations and both endeavor to examine the unfolding nature of some aspect of a dynamic (ie not fixed) concept of art. With Turk I’m just not quite as convinced. My skepticism primarily derives from two factors. The first is that with this exhibition Turk essentially pulls the “Kope d’etat” (apologies for the Michaelis joke); the sudden and decisive change of authorship illegally via force or by art. The primary target this time around is Andy Warhol, Turk having modeled the exhibition’s display strategy around Warhol’s Factory and appropriated a few of the man’s signature moves including silkscreening, enlarged replica and “oxidized urine on copper prepared canvas”.

The idea is that things are not what they seem because they have been reproduced as art. Not exactly a radical notion but one that plays out with varying degrees of success. The strongest works in the show have to be the painted bronzes of Loo Roll (2009), Lady Cadaver (2009) and Bug Eyes (2003), purely because they are very well made without reeking of slickness. But they don’t really fit in as a whole.

I feel like there are two sorts of Pop art. One is where “Pop” denotes the genre and plays into its Art Historical inherencies. The other is where “Pop” mimics the sound of that bubble popping, usually due to the addition of way too much “Handy Andy” bubble mixture. In many cases the works here lie within the later category.

Which brings us to my second objection to the show. It has been titled ‘The Mirror Stage’ which one would assume implies that Lacanian ideas are central to the show. But they really aren’t. It feels as though that idea was taped on at the end to attempt to tie together a collection of disparate works. The varying dates of the works reinforce this notion (2005-2009). Certainly it works in terms of the two mirror pieces Your Authorised Reflection (2009) and Eratangis (2009) and to some extent this splashes over into the silkscreened “Turk posing as series. But the covering of the walls in foil a la Warhol’s Factory in order to create “a visual game with reflection and disorientation” (to quote the press release) is taking it a tad far.



Speaking of foil, Turkey Foil Box (2007) is a rather curious work. Using a pretty weak pun on the artist’s surname, the work presents one with an oversized replica box of Brillo Turkey Foil. What is curious is what exactly Turk wants to imply with this. Considered alongside the foil-covered walls of the Goodman it seemingly derides the entire show (and those viewing it mind) to the status of “Turkey”.



Hmmm. This being said, I honestly think that it should be mandatory for all galleries to use turkey foil as the packaging of choice for artworks of dubious merit. That way your new documentary photography snaps can arrive on your doorstep still steaming as freshly as the day they were bade into being.