Following a long-established art historical tradition, eggs have a metaphorical role in Gavin Turk’s work. A symbol of life and creation, originality and mortality, eggs feature in his practice as giant totems, surreal heads and signatures made from broken shells, as well as in liquid forms as mayonnaise, and egg tempera paint. In total, Turk has created over 600 artworks where the egg is present.

Oeuvre (Verdigris) is made of bronze and features markings reminiscent of a duck egg. Placed in a natural landscape setting at YSP, this oversized egg seems realistic and familiar, whilst also being comic and surreal due to its scale. Oeuvre (Verdigris) is part of a series of works based on different birds’ eggs. Their titles play on the similarity between the word for the life’s work of an artist – ‘Oeuvre’ – and the French word for egg – ‘oeuf’.

Courtesy of Gavin Turk’s studio and Ben Brown Fine Arts.