MOCA GA / Gregor Turk

Gregor Turk: Terminal Velocity
2011/2012 Working Artist Project (WAP)
Exhibition Dates: May 5 – July 14, 2012
Opening Reception: Friday, May 4th / Artist Talk: Tuesday, June 5th

MOCA GA 2011/2012 Working Artist Project selected by Michael Rooks, Wieland Family Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

Click here to see more work by Gregor Turk in the MOCA GA Permanent Collection.

PRESS
ArtsATL / Gregor Turk maps absurdities, ambiguities of markers and place…

BURNAWAY / Gregor Turk Explores Atlanta’s Sense of Place at MOCA GA

AJC / Maps and monuments define Gregor Turk solo show

Gregor Turk (b. 1960 in New Haven, Connecticut) is known for his public installations, ceramic sculptures, photography and mixed media constructions. He is a graduate of The Lovett School and received a BA from Rhodes College in Memphis and an MFA from Boston University. He is currently an Adjunct Sculpture Professor at SCAD in Atlanta. Fascinated by maps since childhood, Turk is interested in what they tell us about ourselves as individuals and collectively as a culture. This exhibition at MOCA GA coincides with the 20th anniversary of Turk’s transcontinental trek by foot and bicycle along the USCanadian border formed by the 49th parallel, at 1270 miles, the world’s longest straight boundary. His WAP Studio Assistant was Hailey Lowe.

“Terminal Velocity is comprised of four primary installations. Each serves not as a definitive statement, but as point of departure—a means of exploring ideas about place and the complex overlay of meaning associated with place that often includes conventionalities, contradictions and absurdities.

“The three pieces on the left wall (upon entering the gallery) utilize different materials to represent the same subject with each medium bringing significantly different readings. The series references Micronesian stick charts which are handheld wood and seashell constructions that depict nautical routes by indicating wave swells and water currents rather than standard distance. The Metronesian Stick Chart, is constructed of mimosa wood and inner-tubes with each valve representing an exit along Atlanta’s interstate system. Meanwhile, Interchange 1-9, located on the back center wall, condenses the city to 9 major interstate intersections. The panels are overlaid with road-worn ribbons of flayed inner-tubes.

“Influenced by animist objects I encountered while living in West Africa in my twenties, the Fetish Series is an attempt to understand the burden of place—to reconcile the conflicted sentiments of revered sites. The wood for each piece was collected from a specific location that holds personal meaning (some examples include: my ancestral home-place, a schizophrenic’s feared power center, and the forest where a friend died). After formed into an X, the wood was bound and protected by taunt rubber (with one exception) with many further impaled with nails.
“The Monument Series serves as an exploration of monuments and their ability to mark place. In this case, perhaps “placeiness” is a better term (as in Colbert’s “truthiness”). By making them portable, their authoritativeness and effectiveness has been significantly diminished while increasing their ability to mark numerous places quickly (although only temporarily).”

– Gregor Turk