| Artist | Karen Turner | Resides | United Kingdom |
| Website | karenturnerfineart.com | Mediums | Oil |
| Print Shop | karenturnerfineart.com/purchase | karen@karenturnerfineart.com | |
| Follow the Artist | Themes | Women Societal expectations Fat acceptance The concept of beauty The female form Discrimination and bias | |
| Press | karenturnerfineart.com/about |
About the artist
Karen Turner is an award-winning artist whose paintings are a commentary on the weight of expectations. Born in London in 1978, Karen attended Hampstead Fine Arts College before going on to a career in the City. Since returning to art in 2020, she has been awarded the President’s Prize by the Institute of East Anglian Artists, the Professional Artist Award by the Visual Artists Association and the Art Fluent Evolution Grant.
She was a finalist in the Theo Paphitis Art Prize, the Holly Bush Emerging Woman Painter Prize and the Women United Art Prize, as well as being shortlisted for the New Emergence Art Prize.
In 2022 Karen was invited by fashion and fine art photographers Inez and Vinoodh to join Double Dutch. An online charity gifting platform, her work features alongside the likes of Cindy Sherman, Gary Hume, Es Devlin and Lady Gaga.
Karen’s first solo show was held in London with Red Eight Gallery in January 2024, and in October 2023 she shared a two-person exhibition with Rosie Phillips at Fairhurst Gallery in Norwich.
Karen is currently a judge for the Visual Art Open 2024, and one of ten finalists in the Dubel Emerging Artist of the Year Prize.
Artwork Themes & Subject Matter
Focusing on the physical body and the scrutiny to which it is commonly subjected, Karen Turner’s paintings explore what society expects of a woman, the ways in which a woman’s shape is often considered to define her, and the impact that this has on her life and sense of self.
An examination of the inherent bias against, and at times discrimination of, fat bodies, her work challenges the traditionally narrow view of who can be considered beautiful, as she sensitively presents her subjects in a way that both celebrates and normalizes.
Press
Karen Turner’s works have been published notable magazine and online sources including Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, Create Magazine, Art Seen, Women United Magazine, The Huts Magazine, All She Makes Magazine, Art Plugged, Arts to Hearts Magazine, Modern Renaissance Magazine, Absolutely Magazine, Places and Faces, London x London, Norfolk Magazine, Folk Features, The Ministry of Arts Podcast, Women United Art Podcast, The Artful Podcast and Portraits for NHS Heroes from Bloomsbury Publishing.
| When | Exhibition | Gallery |
| May 2023 | Group exhibition: “Sanctuary” | The Leper Chapel Cambridge, UK |
| June 2023 | Group exhibition: “The New Face of Portraiture” | Cromer Artspace Cromer, Norfolk, UK |
| October 2023 | Duo exhibition: “Reactions: Society, Surroundings and Self” | Fairhurst Gallery Norwich, Norfolk, UK |
CV
Education
1996 Fine Art, Hampstead Fine Arts College, London, United Kingdom
Selected Solo Exhibition
The Weight of Expectations, Women United Art Movement, Online
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023
The Other Art Fair, The Old Truman Brewery, London, United Kingdom
2022
Professional Artist Award Exhibition, VAA, Online
Art Fair East, St Andrews Hall, Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom
Art on a Postcard, Koppel X, London, United Kingdom
The Holly Bush Emerging Woman Painter Prize Exhibition, Lauderdale House, London, United Kingdom
Perfect Imperfection, Women United Art Movement, Online
The Shape of Us, Masham Galllery, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom
The Other Art Fair, The Old Truman Brewery, London, United Kingdom
2021
Art Fair East, St Andrews Hall, Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom
Gaze, All She Makes, Online
The Marks We Make, The Curator’s Salon, Online
Open Exhibition, The Institute of East Anglian Artists, Holt, Norfolk, United Kingdom
