Daniel Turner

You may very well already know of Daniel Turner, currently working in Brooklyn, NY by way of SFAI, and originally from Portsmouth, VA, he has brought his intimate explorations of naturally "toxic"materials, like tar, soot, rust, iodine, camphophenique, sometimes enclosed in vinyl, sometimes smeared on a floor, sometimes captured on paper.  Daniel's work first caught my eye when he was in a 2-person show at Gregory Lind Gallery in San Francisco. His umbrellas coated in tar and bedecked with bright orange lifejackets drew my eyes to them.  Since that show in 2006, I have had the vicarious pleasure of  following Daniel's rise in the art world.  I wondered why he had not caught the eye of others shortly after his work had caught mine, but I was taught patience by this experience.  Daniel must be one of the hardest working artists out there.  Just looking at his CV you'll see how his shows, solo and group, as well as his collaborative effort with Colin Snapp.  He has recently had a solo show at Massimo di Carlo and an upcoming show at White Cube.  I'm happy to see he has caught the eye of the establishment. Of course this is a double edged sword, as similar to a company that goes public, that type of exposure, publicity, and pressure can certainly affect an artist's work.  I'm hoping it does not have an adverse effect on Daniel's work and I'm presuming at the moment it won't as his work is already so different from anything else out there that it would be a long trip from where he is at to something that is easily palatable.

Look at one of his videoes, Top Spin which is a collaboration with Colin Snapp in the duo Jules Marquis,and which was featured at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 2011.

http://www.julesmarquis.com/JULESMARQUISTOPSPIN.html

Take a look at his work with vinyl and tar and other fun materials that if not contained in the vinyl you would certainly try to avoid, both because of their noxious smell inasmuch as to avoid their stickiness which would be a pain in the ass to get off your hands and clothes.  Do you not want to just smush the vinyl in your hands, or open it up to see what it really feels and smells like?  Don't tell me I'm the only one who wants to do that. 

I remember when Daniel asked me if I'd like him to create a rubbing on my walls.  I didn't take him up on that but I could see that work in a museum, likewise for his work with iron oxide (rust) and his sfumatto created with steel wool on a painted wall.  But I can see these  in a museum or someone who has the space to accomodate them.  I love Daniel's use of seemingly household items to create new and different works.  Kind of a like a modern day Duchamp who shows us that art exists in even the most mundane and typically overlooked materials.  We overlook them for the same reason that we are fascinated with seeing them locked within a safe barrier.  Sort of like seeing flies attack a rotting cow head or a floating formaldehyde laden shark.  Only, PETA would approve of Daniel's work.

Daniel also likes to play with soot and how it transforms "regular"items,Duchampian ready-mades.  He takes a gold plated fireplace set and smears it in soot, changing it from shiny, bright to a messy, dirty art object, conflicted in its own golden black ambivalence.

A fireplace poker set has never looked so regal, so original.