Karen Turner

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Emerging Artist
Karen Turner
Karen Turner is known for her award-winning portrait paintings celebrating larger bodies.
Karen’s artwork subverts the traditionally narrow view of who can be considered beautiful.
Karen’s paintings were selected for the Portraits for NHS Heroes Exhibition, 2020.

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 paintings 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.

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.

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 and Lady Gaga.

In 2024, Karen was a judge for the Visual Art Open, and one of ten finalists in the Dubel Emerging Artist of the Year Prize. That same year, she was invited to feature in the fourth series of BBC One's Extraordinary Portraits, with her episode airing on Friday 14th March 2025.

Karen Turner Artworks

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    showing 1-16 of 19
    First Draft by Karen Turner
    View in a room interior
    First Draft by Karen Turner
    First Draft
    Paintings - 27x22 cmRent for $70 /mo
    Second Take by Karen Turner
    View in a room interior
    Second Take by Karen Turner
    Second Take
    Paintings - 27x22 cmRent for $70 /mo
    Hot Mic by Karen Turner
    View in a room interior
    Hot Mic by Karen Turner
    Hot Mic
    Paintings - 27x22 cmRent for $70 /mo
    Blown Out by Karen Turner
    View in a room interior
    Blown Out by Karen Turner
    Blown Out
    Paintings - 27x22 cmRent for $70 /mo
    Retake by Karen Turner
    View in a room interior
    Retake by Karen Turner
    Retake
    Paintings - 27x22 cmRent for $70 /mo
    Flesh Study #1 by Karen Turner
    View in a room interior
    Flesh Study #1 by Karen Turner
    Flesh Study #1
    Paintings - 26x31 cmRent for $40 /mo
    Just Stand in the Light #1 by Karen Turner
    View in a room interior
    Just Stand in the Light #1 by Karen Turner
    Just Stand in the Light #1
    Paintings - 31x31 cmRent for $40 /mo
    Are There Any Questions? by Karen Turner
    View in a room interior
    Are There Any Questions? by Karen Turner
    Are There Any Questions?
    Paintings - 45x35 cmRent for $70 /mo
    Trixie by Karen Turner
    View in a room interior
    Trixie by Karen Turner
    Trixie
    Paintings - 45x35 cmRent for $70 /mo
    You're Being Irrational by Karen Turner
    View in a room interior
    You're Being Irrational by Karen Turner
    You're Being Irrational
    Paintings - 40x30 cmRent for $90 /mo
    View in a room interior
    Such a Bitch by Karen Turner
    Such a Bitch
    Paintings - 90x50 cmRent for $140 /mo
    View in a room interior
    Not Merely Different But Opposite by Karen Turner
    Not Merely Different But Opposite
    Paintings - 40x30 cmRent for $105 /mo
    View in a room interior
    Soft Edit by Karen Turner
    Soft Edit
    Paintings - 27x22 cm
    View in a room interior
    So Sensitive by Karen Turner
    So Sensitive
    Paintings - 40x30 cm
    View in a room interior
    Cheer Up by Karen Turner
    Cheer Up
    Paintings - 50x40 cm
    View in a room interior
    Too Intense by Karen Turner
    Too Intense
    Paintings - 50x40 cm

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