Cave Mark 2

Yesterday, Clare and I went to visit the 176 gallery, drawn by the lure of works by Frank Auerbach, Michael Landy, Gavin Turk, Gillian Wearing and Richard Wentworth.

On leaving one of the small upper rooms, I noticed the Turk piece above the door. I was immediately excited, as it was the 1991 piece Cave, probably my favourite of his works. I had never seen it before, and indeed commented that I did not know that it was still in existence. Our eyes were then drawn to the accompanying plaque, at which we noticed an anomaly; the date on the work was 1991, whereas the plaque read 1995. We quickly realised the work was a copy. It appears that in Turk establishing a name for himself through a seemingly unworthy method, he has indeed created a profile enough for his appeal being shown through out of context copies. The piece made no sense in this show, or will in any other position than the original, but proves that any connection made with the artist will be valued by the market, as it is of importance to the public. If this was Turk’s intention I applaud him, but I rather feel that he was conforming to the precedent rather than questioning it. Either why however, it has drawn my opinion, so value should be placed.

On leaving the gallery, we saw Richard Wentworth in the foyer. Had we arrived an hour and a half earlier we could have gone on a walk with him. So is life.