Q Press
“Nice! Meaty and provocative! Of course, the odd nature of Americana is that critique and celebration are convergent tendencies, a problem we confront continuously here in The States […] We no longer need a Rorschach to tell us that we see what we want to see. Language has become toxic, in the American cities and rural backwaters alike, particularly visual language. In a way, Trump was the great post-modern change agent when it came to twisting meaning into meaningless lies, magnifying subjectivities into crippling uncertainties and specious relativism.”
Carlo McCormick,
Art Critic on Candidate Q.
Made in Shoreditch, March, 2025
Ben Turnbull has never been one to play it safe. The acclaimed “Angry Pop” artist, known for his politically charged collages, has taken his rebellion to the next level with Rebirth of a Nation, a provocative new exhibition at The Truman Brewery in Shoreditch. With the introduction of his alter ego, Candidate Q, Turnbull dismantles propaganda, misinformation, and the cyclical nature of history, using found objects, comic books, and guerrilla interventions to expose the absurdity of modern power structures.
FAD magazine, Jan 17, 2025
On January 20th, 2025, coinciding with the 60th Presidential Inauguration Ceremony of Donald Trump, artist Ben Turnbull, in collaboration with Candidate Q, unveil their guerrilla intervention, 1/6/21, in New York City.
Inspiring City, Dec 19, 2024
British artist Ben Turnbull has unveiled MAGABUCK in Philadelphia. It features a US dollar bill made from collages of vintage comics collected over decades. It explores themes of power, corruption, and history. All reflecting on America’s complex identity while also acting as a warning.
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The Daily Heller, Dec 11, 2024
Artist Ben Turnbull and his alter-ego Q, both Londoners, unveiled a large-scale guerilla wild-posting, MAGABUCK, in the capital of American independence, Philadelphia, on December 1. The multi-sheet poster depicts a dollar bill, and a collage of vintage comics they have collected over decades. Themes of corruption, power, and cyclical history reflect America’s complex identity and MAGABUCK symbolizes the commodification of power and jingoism. The work invites viewers to reflect on their relationship with these themes.
A veteran street artist, Turnbull reflects on the nation’s new unsettling, normal reality, with the MAGA phenomenon and the resurgence of extremist ideologies echoing in all corners of the land. MAGABUCK draws chilling parallels to D.W. Griffith’s 1915 Birth of a Nation, a “classic” film that, when it was released, mythologized Jim Crow and legitimized white supremacy. It was President Woodrow Wilson’s favorite film to show to his guests at the White House. Turnbull’s MAGABUCK is a counter-narrative.
