Image: Turner Art Perspective, Essex
Turner Art Perspective has announced a rare collection of previously unreleased diamond-dust works by Mr Controversial, offering mailing-list subscribers first access before the works are released publicly on the gallery’s website next Wednesday. The online presentation includes mixed-media archival prints with crushed glass diamond dust on Somerset paper, and the gallery says buyers can contact it directly to reserve works ahead of the public release.
The collection is presented as 'MR CONTROVERSIAL | Latest Collection' and draws from Mr Controversial’s 2024 series. Two of the listed works are 'It’s Exhausting Being Right All The Time' and 'Everyone Was Thinking It', each in editions of 10 plus artist proofs and priced at £850. The works shown on the private viewing page are unframed, with framed prices and sizes available on request.
Turner Art Perspective describes the artist as a London-based figure whose work transforms vintage imagery through oil paint, silkscreen printing and captions that combine comedy, satire and darker social observation. The gallery’s artist biography says Mr Controversial is 33 years old and notes that his practice plays with what it calls 'The Familiar Surprise', bringing recognisable imagery back in altered form to trigger memory, humour and commentary.
The biography also places diamond dust within his material vocabulary, alongside oil paint and silkscreen, and identifies social commentary as a core part of the work. The gallery says his practice draws on typography and pop art traditions, and compares his use of text to artists including Harland Miller, while positioning the artist within a lineage that also includes Bruce Nauman, Ed Ruscha and other text-focused or pop-inflected figures.
According to the gallery, Mr Controversial’s previous collections, 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Pulp Noir', have already had 'unprecedented success' in the art market. The biography says his latest collection, 'IT’S ALL JUST F**KING WORDS', ranges from original oil works on canvas and paper to hand-finished silkscreen works and limited-edition prints kept to very small edition runs, with some silkscreen pieces described as unique artworks.
The new release is being handled through Turner Art Perspective’s online viewing room and private preview links, with inquiries directed to the gallery by email or phone. Turner Art Perspective, which is based in Essex and operates galleries in Chelmsford and Shenfield, says the collection will go live publicly on its website next Wednesday, while subscribers can view and reserve the works in advance.
