Artist Focus: Ken Turner in Penryn

ART FOCUS

Nonagenarian artist Ken Turner continues to challenge climate change at the Fish Factory Arts, Penryn

He might be approaching a century, but Ken Turner’s energy and passion show no signs of diminishing. The 95-year-old painter and performance artist hosts his latest exhibition at the Fish Factory Arts in Penryn, picking up the baton from the UN’s COP26 Conference with the aim of empowering the community to challenge climate change in creative ways through interactive workshops and activities.

The exhibition explores the extremes of climate change; paintings concern fire and flood, insect life, forests, drought, extinction of animals, famine, destruction of plants and “a very angry Gaia”. Says Ken: “This is but a small contribution to the protests happening around the world. Paintings and performance can tell a story, and I hope this makes a difference.”

Raising awareness about climate change has never been so important during his 70-year career as it is now. “COP26 is not doing enough for the poorer people of this world,” he declares. “I am appalled at the way big corporations and rich countries ignore the disasters happening now.”

In mainstream media, younger generations are frequently portrayed as the central activists in the face of climate change, which is one reason why Ken, a nonagenarian and long-term advocate for the climate, has chosen to present his exhibition at the Fish Factory Arts, a creative community space for people of all ages. He also seeks to challenge inequality through his work, regularly performing and exhibiting in public venues.

Born in India in 1926, Ken arrived in the UK as a child and seeks to challenge western modes of thinking with his practice. Following several solo exhibitions in London, the painter and former pictureframer founded Action Space in the 1960s, a performance and community art group that became integral to developing his practice. “What inspired me was how the movements of the body in performance can relate to the physical act of painting, which for me is very physical as well as emotional,” he explains.

Ken has a longstanding connection to the Cornish art scene, as a member of Newlyn Society of Artists, with past exhibitions at Newlyn Art Gallery as well as a collaborative history with Tate St Ives, not to mention his many public art projects across the streets of Cornwall. To launch the exhibition in November, he hosted a performance piece with dancer Stephanie Richards called Painting And The Crisis Of Climate Change.

Look out for two free family workshops on Sunday, December 5. Participants will be invited to contribute to large-scale floor paintings; rolls of paper, water-based paints, brushes, aprons and cleaning stations will be provided (tickets must be booked in advance).

Fish Factory founder and director Rose Hatcher says: “We are very excited to present this exhibition of recent work by Ken Turner. These large-scale paintings express and embody some of the most important themes of our times. The Fish Factory hopes to contribute to the movement against ecological disaster by providing a place for conversation, creativity and action.”

In November, Fish Factory Arts CIC received £35,000 in the third round of grants from the government's Culture Recovery Fund. "Without this help we would almost certainly have had to close down, or at least would be a shadow of our fishy selves," adds Rose. "This funding has supported staff wages and overheads, and has given us the opportunity to organise free events, workshops and exhibitions which centre the community and are open and accessible to all. As a community business, it has allowed us to remain free to support all kinds of creative ideas and experiments in whatever way we can. l

Ken Turner’s exhibition continues until December 13 at the Fish Factory Arts, Penryn. Find more information at www.fishfactoryarts.space or via social media @fishfactoryarts.