Artist’s Talk: Dion Kitson with Gavin Turk

Join artists Dion Kitson and Gavin Turk for a talk about Kitson’s artistic practice and his current Ikon exhibition, Rue Britannia.

The event begins with Kitson and Turk in conversation, chaired by Dr Linzi Stauvers, Artistic Director (Education), Ikon. Towards the end of the event, a Q&A takes place while the two artists enjoy a game of pool together.

This event is preceded by a free film screening of Dion & The Unicorn (2024) by Dan Watts (6-6.30pm).

About the artists

Dion Kitson was born in Dudley, West Midlands and studied Fine Art at Birmingham School of Art, graduating in 2020. He has exhibited in UK group shows since 2015, and has won the Ede & Ravenscroft Award Academic Prize, the ACS Studio prize, The Mike Holland Award and The Tate Prize. Kitson has shown work in over 50 exhibitions both nationally and internationally, representing the West Midlands through works made in response to his hometown. He recently opened a contemporary art gallery, FW Bargins, in a Midlands town centre in collaboration with artist Foka Wolf.

Gavin Turk is a British born, internationally renowned artist, who lives and works in London. He has pioneered many forms of contemporary British sculpture, including the painted bronze, the waxwork, the recycled art-historical icon and the use of rubbish in art. Turk’s installations and sculptures deal with issues of authorship, authenticity and identity. In 1991, the Royal College of Art refused Turk a degree on the basis that his final show, Cave, consisted of a whitewashed studio space containing only a blue heritage plaque commemorating his presence ‘Gavin Turk worked here 1989-91′.

Instantly gaining notoriety through this installation, Turk was spotted by Charles Saatchi and included in several YBA exhibitions. Gavin Turk’s work is held within public and private collections worldwide. In 2013 Prestel published Turk’s first monograph, showcasing more than two decades of his work and in 2014 Trolley Books published This Is Not A Book About Gavin Turk which playfully explores themes associated with the artist’s work via thirty notable contributors.