SIX AH WI
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Biography

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Tafewa Turner is a young, provocative 21st century artist.

Blurring the lines between abstraction and realism, he is known for creating vibrant oils on canvas with hidden surprises of images that surface the longer you view his paintings. He is also known for creating works exploring emotional and controversial issues with the use of a variety of media including oils, watercolours, industrial materials, pencils, pens, plaster and charcoal.

“I use whatever materials and talent I can muster to bring authenticity to my pieces,” says Turner. I try to produce art that creates a dialogue.”

A self-taught artist, Turner’s most recent work was featured in the 2006 Genius Loves Company exhibit Edition I, at Toronto’s Distillery District Art Gallery and the 2007 Edition II exhibit, at the Gladstone Hotel Gallery in Toronto, Ontario.

Born in Kingston Jamaica in 1980, Turner migrated to Canada in 1991. A member of Toronto’s Six Ah WI Art Collective, a grouping of Toronto artists of African Canadian decent, Turner’s work reflects his Jamaican and Canadian roots. However he says, “You are not necessarily defined by the place where you were born, or where you live. A combined narrative makes our story what it is.”

Turner is a graduate of the University of Toronto’s political science and sociology departments. He is also a Charter Member of Toastmaster International and in 2007 received a certificate of merit for public speaking.

Since 2001, he has used his creative talent to help human rights organizations. Most recently, Turner provided volunteer creative consultative services to the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted.

His current project, titled In Pursuit of Compassion, is a multi-medium art exposé on icons of the 20th century.

View Tafewa Turner's Gallery