Karen Turner

Karen Turner is a multi-award-winning figurative artist whose oil paintings challenge societal bias against larger bodies, exploring how cultural expectations limit identity and ambition.

She makes a powerful statement about how society attempts to contain and diminish women’s presence, while simultaneously creating works of striking beauty and emotional impact.

​Born in London in 1978, Karen attended Hampstead Fine Arts College before going on to a career in the City. Since returning to her practice 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.
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She has been a finalist in the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize, the Holly Bush Emerging Woman Painter Prize, the Theo Paphitis Art Prize and the Women United Art Prize.
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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. She exhibits across the UK, including with The Other Art Fair and Art Fair East, and her work features on Inez and Vinoodh's platform 'Double Dutch' alongside the likes of Cindy Sherman an...

Hampstead Fine Arts College

Select Exhibitions:

The Dubel Prize Finalist Solo Exhibition, The Libertine, London, 2024

Reactions: Society, Surroundings and Self with Rosie Phillips, Fairhurst Gallery, Norwich, 2023

The Other Art Fair, London, March 2023

Art Fair East, Norwich, Norfolk, December 2022

Art on a Postcard auction, curated by gowithYamo

Holly Bush Emerging Woman Painter Prize Exhibition, Lauderdale House, June - July 2022

Perfect Imperfection with Women United Art Movement (online), May 2022

Solo Show: The Weight of Expectations (online), May 2022

The Shape of Us, Masham Gallery, Masham, North Yorkshire, March - May 2022

The Other Art Fair, London, March 2022

Women United Art Prize Exhibition (online), January 2022

Art Fair East, Norwich, Norfolk, December 2021

Gaze from Arts to Hearts Project with All She Makes (online), September 2021

The Marks We Make from The Curator's Salon (online), August 2021

The Holly Bush Emerging Woman Painter Prize Exhibition (online), July 2021

The Institute of East Anglian Artists Open Exhibition, Holt, Norfolk, May 2021