Ken Turner, the 100-year-old artist who drove a tank over a Tesla last year, remains defiantly rebellious. In a new exhibition at Wharfside Arts Hub in Penzance, he showcases paintings and performance, continuing a lifelong mission to make art accessible to all.
A lifetime of radical art
Turner began his artistic journey in the 1960s, moving from painting to socially conscious public art. He created giant inflatable sculptures decades before immersive art became mainstream. Taught by Fernand Léger and friends with John Berger, he made frames for Frank Auerbach and Leon Kossoff. His latest act of defiance was driving a 15-tonne tank over a Tesla, a performance condemning corporate greed and rising fascism.
Rejecting the establishment
Turner refused a place at the Slade School of Fine Art because he disliked the colour of the walls. He later declined his final exam at Regent Street Polytechnic for being forced to paint in an impressionist style. "I'm not a revolutionary, I'm a simple rebel," he says. He also turned down West End gallery invitations, calling dealers "monsters." Instead, he taught at Barnet College and Central Saint Martins.
Action Space and public art
In the late 1960s, inspired by Joan Littlewood, Turner co-founded Action Space, an art collective taking art into communities. They created inflatable sculptures for public interaction, using light, sound, and movement. Turner says, "I almost cry about the inequality that's happening." Action Space now works with learning-disabled artists, including Turner Prize-winner Nnena Kalu.
Performance and painting as one
Turner sees no distinction between performance and painting. "I perform when I'm painting, and I'm painting when I perform," he states. At 100, he will perform at his exhibition opening alongside his daughter. His paintings, semi-abstract and emotional, address Gaza and climate change. "Museums should buy them," he says. "They instruct people about the sadness of the planet."
Continuing despite age
Turner moved to Cornwall in the 1990s, rediscovering painting. He still needs to sell work but avoids the West End. "If I didn't make art, I'd die," he says. "It gives me life." His son, filmmaker Huw Wahl, notes, "His painting is getting better and more playful." The exhibition, Ken Turner at 100: A Century of Crashing Culture, runs until 4 August.
