The painter, sculptor and performance artist has devoted his life to making art available to the masses. Now with a new exhibition, the centenarian discusses inequality, inspiration, and why he won\u2019t be stopping any time soon<\/p>\n
\u2018Life is short, art long,\u201d says Ken Turner, reading from a book of aphorisms by ancient Greek physician Hippocrates. And he\u2019s half right, really, because at 100 years old \u2013 and very possibly the world\u2019s oldest performance artist \u2013 art might have been long, but life hasn\u2019t been all that short for him, either. And he has filled those years to the brim with radicalism, experimentalism and a singular dedication to pushing ideas as far as he can make them go.<\/p>\n
In the 1960s, Turner moved from painting towards a socially conscious form of public art, creating giant inflatable sculptures that visitors could inhabit and interact with decades before immersive art became a thing. He was taught by Fernand L\u00e9ger, he was mates with John Berger, he made frames for Frank Auerbach and Leon Kossoff. Last year, he drove a tank over a Tesla in a performance meant as a damning indictment of corporate greed and rising fascism. His has been a life of rebellion and revolution, of obstinately following his own artistic path no matter what obstacles he encounters, no matter how much easier it would have been to walk down a more well-trodden one.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/72c270d01ceb232a8d61cc8a359b7520b84e4a7f\/0_331_2362_1888\/master\/2362.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=a0a5c860c0f2ff52375d4a976088e862\" "\\"Ken")
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