Gavin Turk

Gavin Turk (born 1967) is a British artist and considered one of the Young British Artists (YBAs). Turk continually investigates what it means to be an artist and many of his works deal with issues of authorship, authenticity and originality.

He attended the Royal College of Art, in London. In 1991, the tutors refused to give him the final degree because of his show, called Cave, which consisted of a whitewashed studio space, containing only a blue heritage plaque (of the kind normally found on historic buildings) commemorating his own presence as a sculptor. This bestowed some instant notoriety on Turk, whose work was collected by Charles Saatchi.

Turk pieces often involves his own image disguised as that of a more famous person. He has cast himself in a series of detailed life sized sculptures as different romantic heroes, including Sid Vicious, Jean-Paul Marat and the leftist revolutionary Che Guevara.

A set of what appeared to be classic posters of Che Guevara in a beret, revealed themselves on further scrutiny to be photos of Turk himself. Turk alleged that the management of London's (now defunct) Millennium Dome refused to display his Che Gavara (sic) sculpture, for fear of offending arms-manufacturing Dome sponsor BAe/Marconi.

Hasta La Victoria Siempre (Elvis on summer holiday with Che Beret)