Biography
Ralph Turner (b. Maesteg, Mid Glamorgan, Wales, UK 1936 - d. 2017) trained as a mechanical engineer and was a shop window designer in Cardiff, followed by a job in London as assistant stage manager at Bernard Miles's Mermaid Theatre before managing the Pace Gallery in St Christopher's Place from 1969 to 1970. He then founded his own Electrum Gallery with the jewellery designer Barbara Cartlidge in 1971. Turner became Director of Exhibitions at the Crafts Council (1974-1989) alongside Victor Margrie, the first Director of the Crafts Advisory Committee (as it was called until 1979). Turner's groundbreaking exhibition The Maker's Eye (1982) involved 14 makers contributing their own personal interpretation of craft in the late 20th century. He also staged shows for Oriel in Cardiff for the Welsh Arts Council, between 1989 and 1999 and for the Glynn Vivian Gallery, Swansea, between 2000 and 2009. Turner was the Contemporary Art Society Craft Buyer for 1993, purchasing over 20 remarkable works.
