Exciting news out of the US just as 2014 came to a close, with the Art Institute of Chicago announcing the opening of its new galleries for Islamic art, which means the museum’s sumptuous collection is on display for the first time since 2012. There will be a number of important pieces on permanent display and the installations will be continually refreshed with rotating displays of paintings, calligraphy, textiles and carpets. Loans from public and private collections will also be on view.

Tile from the Rüstem Pasha Mosque, Istanbul

Objects from different cultures and time periods introduce visitors to the history, religion and artistic traditions of Islam. The displays will be presented in a number of ways: thematically, chronologically and geographically. Objects from the early and medieval Islamic world will be showcased in one section, while art from the empires of Ottoman Turkey, Safavid Iran and Mughal India will be featured in another. 

Painting of the Tomb of I'timād-ud-Daulah

There will be a concentration on art produced under the Mongols in Iran between the mid-13th and mid-14th centuries, which comprises a large part of the museum’s collection. Objects on display include Islamic ornaments, including the arabesque, manuscripts and figural decorations, which were surprisingly widely used in this period.

Folio from Qur’an manuscript

A number of recent acquisitions will be on public view for the first time. These include exquisite examples of calligraphy, such as pages from a Qur’an manuscript of the late 12th or 13th century, shown above, with its vivid coloured inks on pink paper.

Four Tiles

There will also be a focus on architecture. Objects characteristic of Islamic art – from Iranian tile spandrels, to wooden doors and beams from Morocco – will also be on display.

Lamp, 14th century, Egypt or Syria, The Art Institute of Chicago, Martin A Ryerson Collection

‘I believe visitors will be astonished by the high quality and creative energy found in this assortment of objects from across the full span of the Islamic world, from Spain and Morocco to Central Asia and Indonesia,’ said Daniel Walker, the curator of both the Department of Textiles and the Department of Islamic Art, as reported in Halı magazine. If you find yourself in Chicago, don’t miss seeing this unparalleled collection.

The main image shows ‘The Ascent of the Prophet to Heaven’, page from the copy of the ‘Khamsa of Nizami’, c 1600, Iran, The Art Institute of Chicago, Lucy Maud Buckingham Collection.

In our new blog series, the photographer Lynn Gilbert takes us on a journey through Turkish homes.

People’s living environments have always fascinated me from the time my mother and I visited homes of MOMA members in New York when I was still a teenager. That was my first introduction to interiors and it has had a huge impact on my life.

For years, I honed my visual skills visiting world-class houses in Great Britain – public monuments that are filled with the accumulated treasures of a bygone empire and fortunately preserved by the National Trust. These landmark dwellings had always been my gold standard until I began to make pilgrimages to other countries.

It wasn’t until I travelled to Turkey that I felt I had arrived at my preordained destination. Here I discovered something remarkable: part of Turkey’s cultural heritage is in its old homes that are suffused with history.

Sadly, today these dwellings are rapidly being replaced by modern housing. The old houses are crumbling and are far too costly for the ordinary person to repair. While these new homes are unquestionably more comfortable for the inhabitants, the disappearance of the old is a drastic loss for Turkey’s cultural heritage. There is no ‘National Trust’ in Turkey that preserves and documents them.

In my nine trips to Turkey over many years, I photographed hundreds of these homes. Turkish people’s stunning use of colour, pattern, texture, balance and scale results in an impeccable sense of style.

History tends to record the grand and expensive, but not the simple and ordinary. However, the loss of the ordinary house results in the loss of a way of life. It is for this reason that these homes – both affluent and modest – deserve to be documented and preserved, and it is for this reason that I continue to travel and photograph in Turkey.

I use natural light as the paintbrush that illuminates, frames and links all my images. What is rich for me is sometimes ordinary: the peeling sky blue paint behind golden yellow stairs that makes a basement stairway look otherworldly.

The above image shows a house in Safranbolu, one of those glorious examples of an old city, which has fortunately been preserved as a World Heritage Site.

The houses in this city are solid and substantial and look as though they will be there for many generations to come. Built with three or four stories, they are generally white with black-framed windows, randomly placed in pockets of trees on a hillside. The houses have an air of the old style of English architecture except for their roofs, which are distinctive in their own way: red tiles, a sizeable overhang and the centre is pointed up. Think of the shape of a napkin that has been pulled up gently in the centre. I’m not sure what culture this is adapted from, possibly Spain, but wherever it originated, from the vantage point of a true blue New Yorker, the whole town appears to come right out of a storybook.

The house I visited has been in the family for 200 years, and the three sons wanted to sell it but due to its location, in a World Heritage Site, it could be sold to foreigners. The father was a carpenter. Apparently, it is now in the public domain.

When I got to the door, I had absolutely no idea what to expect. What I saw from the outside was a house that looked no different from any of the other large and imposing homes in the neighbourhood. The enclosed stone courtyard, the size of a large room, was covered with luxurious vines and foliage and filled with well-maintained pots of greenery and flowers. 

The entryway inside the house was a shock. What was immaculate outside was dingy, dark and dusty inside. The light from a small window lit huge terracotta urns covered with dust, huge old wooden wheels leaning against a stonewall, children’s playthings and a scattering of the ubiquitous shoes. My heart sank.

But when you go into someone’s house, you can’t just turn on your heels and run, that would be rude. Taking pictures takes time, so I went in. I’ve since learned just to take a few shots and leave, which I’ve now done hundreds of times.

Entering the living room, my eyes popped out of my head and my heart started pounding. In the middle of this huge room was a pool. Really! I found out that it was filled with about two thousand tons of water. 

The room, as you can see, explodes with character. The extraordinary bones: the pool, the carved-wood ceiling, the cream-coloured walls, the blue painted pool, the placement of long red covered banquettes along the sides of the wall and the exquisite placement of tasselled pillows at strategic points. Centred between the windows is the one image possessed by almost every home in Turkey, a portrait of Atatürk.

I don’t remember any other home that I’ve visited in Turkey that had a European-style window treatment: a valance and curtains pulled back with ties. Ninety-nine percent of the hundreds and hundreds of the old homes that I’ve seen have sheer white curtains, most with a delicate pattern. 

It’s difficult to imagine that over 200 years, this home, was owned by one family, nomads. The family and their accumulated treasures on the wall and on the table in front of the pool, and the extraordinary care in maintaining this house reveal roots deeply entrenched not just in their home, but also in the community. In pulling up these roots, which must have been wrenching, I hope they will find a new place and bestow on it as much beauty and care as they have given to this one.

Please visit Lynn’s website for more photographs.

Copyright Lynn Gilbert.

We are in Karaköy and Tophane for a very diverse gallery walk this week, taking in a bit of everything, from painting to sculpture to photography and even textiles.

Memed Erdener, aka Extramücadele

MOM I’M GOING OUT TO POUR SOME CONCRETE

Start on Meclis-i Mebusan, east of the Tophane tram stop, where Studio-X at No 35 is hosting a joint exhibition of the photographer Antonio Cosentino and the artist known as Extramücadele. In Mom I’m Going Out to Pour Some Concrete, the artists explore the loss of homes and living environments.

Cosentino has spent the last 19 years photographing the rapidly changing landscape of Istanbul, documenting how the appearance of streets and houses is being changed by constant demolition and reconstruction, and how in turn this increases migration and relocation and erases social memory. Alongside his photo series and an installation there will be three works designed by Extramücadele, focusing on children’s lives in the neighbourhoods Cosentino has covered. The works are not for sale.

ELIF AKSOY’S I LOVE ISTANBUL

Next, head towards the Tophane tram stop and pop into MSFAU Tophane-i Amire CAC, on the corner of Boğazkesen Caddesi, to catch I love Istanbul, a weaving exhibition of the artist Elif Aksoy, who is also an assistant professor of textiles at Fırat University. The works are not for sale.

Mehmet Güleryüz

MEHMET GÜLERYÜZ’S PAINTER AND PAINTING

Next follow the big red sign to the daddy of contemporary art, Istanbul Modern, where the major temporary exhibition of 2015 opened earlier this month. Painter and Painting is a retrospective of Mehmet Güleryüz’s stellar 50-plus-year career.

Curated by Levent Çalıkoğlu and Senem R Kantarcı, the show focuses on Güleryüz’s critical and expressionist style. Using an ironic language, Güleryüz’s figurative works highlight the effects of Turkey’s sociocultural and political transformation on its people. Family, male-female relationships and nature are some of the themes he explores. Showcasing Güleryüz’s oeuvre from the 1960s to the 2010s, the exhibition sheds light on the development and transformation of this quest for expression, which ranges from painting, drawing, sculpture and engraving, to theatre and performance. The works are not for sale.

Mehmet Güleryüz exhibition view

Says Kantarcı: ‘During each period of his career [Güleryüz] formed a social-realist theme from different perspectives and expressed the impact of events and states on individuals. For example, he reveals the loss of the values of tradition, in his family first of all – he comes from a family that made the transition from the Ottoman Empire to the Republic – in the face of modern life and the dissonance and tension it creates through unique moments, and also reminds us of them by connecting them to well-known and commonly acceptable events. Güleryüz’s images critically record – through the personality and identity analysis of his figures – the times through which he has lived.’

If you haven’t yet visited the excellent Şahin Kaygun, now’s the time (click here to read more).

Pınar Akkurt exhibition view

PINAR AKKURT’S GATHERING

On parallel Mumhane Caddesi, at No 67, artSümer (main image) is hosting the designer Pınar Akkurt. For the past few years Akkurt has been making totem-like sculptures out of everyday kitchenware and utensils for the neighbourhood’s restaurant Karaköy Lokantası, and this show, Gathering, represents the culmination of that series. Prices range from TL3,000 to TL6,000.

Pınar Akkurt exhibition view

Asked to comment on the year ahead, the gallery’s owner, Aslı Sümer says: ‘I would like to see a more vibrant art scene this year. New names, outstanding works by already-known artists, and excited and involved collectors. These are essential for a better year.’

Anonymous

ANONYMOUS

Navigate through the sidestreets back onto Kemeraltı Caddesi (where the tram stop is) and head west. When you come to the hustle and bustle of Karaköy Square, take a steep right onto Bankalar Caddesi. On the corner, the Sabancı University’s downtown arts and culture centre, Kasa Galeri, is back after a six-month hiatus with an interesting exhibition.

Always endeavouring to approach the fine arts in an ‘experimental, internationally minded, collaborative and research-based way’, the gallery is hosting a mysterious exhibition, entitled Anonymous. Over seven weeks, it aims to provide a space for artists to work either independently or collaboratively and then present their work to audiences – anonymously. Pop in to see which works are being showcased this week.

Helen Sheehan

HELEN SHEEHAN’S ARMENIAN FAMILY STORIES AND LOST LANDSCAPES

Head back towards the Tophane tram stop and, just opposite and inland, the former tobacco warehouse DEPO is hosting an exhibition of the Irish photographer, Helen Sheehan, entitled Armenian Family: Stories and Lost Landscapes.

Sheehan’s works are about memory and loss of homes. Brief family stories of three Armenian families from Diyarbakır and Zeytun (Maraş) together with reproductions of photos from their family albums are juxtaposed alongside photos Sheehan took in those places, mostly focusing on architectural details of sites that were occupied by Armenians and objects which belonged to the families. Sheehan’s emotive and beautiful body of work provides a way of approaching the past through family histories and personal experiences rather than official histories. Works are for sale. Please enquire directly with the artist.

Helen Sheehan

Sheehan says of her project: ‘I examine the objects that remain from [the Armenian families’] ancestral pasts, such as a silver embossed cane candle, a lump of sugar, a family Bible and photos that testify to past experiences. I examine the re-emergence of the past through memory and go to their former towns and villages to photograph what remains. The work opens up a discourse between then and now and explores post-memory in itself.’

DEPO’s curator Aslı Çetinkaya says she wants to see ‘more collaborative works, projects in spaces other than galleries or art institutions, more profound discussions and debates, and interesting critical texts’ in 2015.

Key: Red – Studio-X, Yellow – Tophane-i Amire, Green – Istanbul Modern, Blue – artSümer, Purple – Kasa Galeri, Orange – DEPO

Click here for the interactive map. 

SALT continues its survey of contemporary Lebanese artists (following the Rabih Mroué show last summer) with a comprehensive exhibition of the filmmaker, photographer, archival artist and curator, Akram Zaatari. One of the most important voices in Lebanon today, Zaatari – with more than 40 works and a dozen books under his belt – is concerned in his oeuvre with the political and social conditions of Lebanon’s postwar society.

Much like the multidisciplinary Mroué, Zaatari works in photography, film, video, installation and performance to explore matters pertinent to his country. His forthright style, blended with subject matter ranging from image production to body image and archaeology – and generally concerned with how we record history – results in bold, often conceptual and thoroughly interesting work. One of the founders of the Arab Image Foundation (AFI), which works to track down and preserve photos from North Africa, the Middle East and other Arab communities around the world, Zaatari collects, examines and re-contextualises a wide range of written, audio and visual documents.

Exhibition view, first floor

As with the majority of shows at SALT Beyoğlu, this exhibition tackles a different topic – or a different aspect of the artist's work – on each floor. The first floor focuses on Zaatari’s interest in excavation. His fascinating Time Capsule project, produced for dOCUMENTA 13 (2012) is on display, among a few other smaller works. Inspired by the Beirut National Museum’s decision to seal much of its archaeological collection inside concrete blocks at the outbreak of the civil war in Lebanon in 1975, Time Capsule questions the need for institutions to protect documents and artefacts. Audiences are presented with a new phase of Zaatari’s research, inspired by Osman Hamdi Bey’s mission to Saida which led to the discovery of Sidon’s Necropolis and what is known as the Alexander Sarcophagus in 1887. Zaatari collected key images and notes to help reconstruct what is known about the excavation of the sarcophagus, which was transported along with other artefacts, including the mummy of King Tabnit of Sidon, to the then Ottoman Imperial Museum (now the Istanbul Archaeological Museums, set up by Hamdi Bey). Zaatari’s research includes interviews with descendants of key individuals involved in the excavation and a study of the documentation of the digs. This is an exhaustive, informative work that deserves attention. 

Exhibition view, second floor

The second floor showcases Zaatari’s work concerned with photography. The artist believes photography is a way of writing history, albeit one full of gaps and personal bias. Two periods of Zaatari’s work with the AIF are explored: the first is from 1997 to 2000, when he travelled to Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt, researching and collecting photographs – research that would later form the nucleus of AIF’s collection. He also interviewed the people who gave him photographs in order to keep a record of where they were taken, where people had kept them, and how they related to them. In 2010 Zaatari used this material to make a two-channel video, shown on this floor, which comments on the dual lives of these photographs: first in the possession of the families who cherished them, and later in the more sterile environment of the archive of the AIF.

Another interesting work on this floor is the video On Photography, People and Modern Times (2010), above, Zaatari’s first critique of the way images can be taken out of their original contexts.

The third floor – bringing together his work on the body and posture and how these form their own vocabulary – is a standout. Zaatari became interested in notions of masculinity – a multi-layered topic in countries such as Lebanon – in 1997, when he made the documentary, Crazy of You, tracing young men’s stories of conquest.

Following this, Zaatari produced his first video installation, Another Resolution (1998), above, for which he asked a group of men and women to recreate positions derived from children’s sometimes eroticised poses in photographs. These films were initially presented on two screens facing one another, but a more sophisticated installation is presented at SALT, showing the images separately on videos which loop like moving photographs. It is a striking work.

Free from the taboos and censorship of Lebanese society, Zaatari bravely explores homosexuality in End of Time (2012), above, originally made as part of the Time Capsule project for dOCUMENTA 13. In Zaatari’s words, the video is ‘concern[ed] with man’s desire to preserve life and love’. The choreographed video shows the rehearsed gestures of two lovers, interpreted by three men portraying the eternal story of love and separation.

The video Beirut Exploded Views (2014), above, commissioned by the 10th Gwangju Biennale, articulates the body’s position in space. Whereas The End of Time was shot in a white-walled studio, this video was filmed in downtown Beirut, primarily on a construction site. Using the location as his stage, Zaatari constructs a narrative with six characters who inhabit an imaginary post-apocalyptic city, in which they communicate entirely through gestures and smart phones. A glimpse into our future? If there’s an artist who can give us this, it’s Zaatari.

The exhibition continues until February 15, 2015.

In our new blog series, the photographer Lynn Gilbert takes us on a journey through Turkish homes.

The above image was taken in Bursa, in a small village filled with wood-framed houses, similar in design to early English architecture, characterised by a horizontal band of timber which divides the upper and lower levels of the house. The lower parts of the houses in Bursa are constructed of large blocks of rugged stone, while the upper floors are sometimes a muted pastel colour. Today the sides of these houses are flat, but when they were built the upper floor often projected out over the lower. The window frames are brightly coloured and the tiled roofs are often red. One sees homes like these in small towns in Bulgaria, where the houses – although very old – are of a much bolder design and look modern. The Bursa houses are old, worn and have incredible charm. 

Many of the old homes in Turkey are built so you see a series of rooms simultaneously. They are not like the cookie-cutter apartments of today – at least in the United States – where each living space is designed with four walls and a door for privacy.

This particular home was built along a winding cobbled road, rubbed smooth with age and edged with patches of moss. Owned by a farmer and his wife, the building embodies the essence of a truly humble Turkish home with great style.   

The owners’ few possessions are perfectly positioned. Clothes hang from hooks, as in many houses I visited in Turkey, as though placed there for decoration. I don’t ever remember seeing wardrobes, and if these old houses do have them they are shallow cabinets filled with neatly stacked layers of quilts.

It is the way belongings are placed in this house that gives it character. In place of a painting, the broken wall on the right – with the supporting structure peering through – breaks up what would be a long flat surface.

The brush standing against the end of the wall, is another accent, adding colour, shape and texture. The absence of a broomstick is for health reasons: in Turkey, as in India, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, you hardly ever see a broom with a stick. Constant bending supposedly protects people from back ailments. 

When photographing a home, I try never to move anything, so that the space can be seen as it really is. I framed the photo to show where one room ends and another begins. I did have to move the broom though, just a bit.

Bursa was wonderful. The trip there replaced a planned visit to Syria that I cancelled. Had I gone to Syria, I wouldn’t have photographed this glorious space – and enjoyed the added bonus of the photograph winning a prize in two photography contests.

Lynn Gilbert has been fascinated by people’s living environments since she was 16 years old. She has travelled the world photographing houses for most of her career. In nine trips to Turkey, Gilbert has photographed hundreds of homes in an effort to capture the living conditions of Turkish people, both affluent and modest, and to document the beautiful old houses that form part of Turkey's cultural heritage. Please visit her website for more photographs.

Copyright Lynn Gilbert.

We are in Beyoğlu this week for a diverse and absorbing gallery walk of mostly solo and a few group shows. There is a significant number of shows of international artists in this walk.

Handan Figen

HANDAN FIGEN’S LUCKY INCIDENT

Start at the Tünel end of İstiklâl Caddesi. Down Asmalımescit Caddesi at No 32, Sanatorium is hosting the talented Istanbul-born artist Handan Figen. In Lucky Incident, Figen’s striking watercolour stains on paper, depicting emotions, animals and landscapes (above), are juxtaposed alongside a massive installation (below) that you can walk through. The gallery’s director, Feza Velicangil, describes the installation as ‘walking in a drawing’. Prices range from TL6,500 to TL11,000.

Handan Figen exhibition view

The state of the contemporary art scene is dependent on what the galleries decide to show, says Velicangil. ‘And [this year] we want to stage more exciting exhibitions that would lead to more interested and involved audiences.’

Şakir Gökçebağ

ŞAKIR GÖKÇEBAĞ’S THINK TANK

On perpendicular Meşrutiyet Caddesi, Galerist, at No 67, is hosting the Denizli-born, Hamburg-based artist Şakir Gökçebağ. Know for his exhaustive installations that reinterpret everyday objects, Gökçebağ showcases a series of new ready-made objects that subvert established ways of perception in Think Tank. Prices range between €10,000 and €25,000.

Şakir Gökçebağ

Asked what she looks forward to in 2015, the gallery’s artist liaison Müge Çubukçu is hoping for more collaborative projects, new publications and more art in public spaces.

Mito Gegič, ‘AM’, 2014, acrylics, duct tape on canvas, 154 x 216 cm

MITO GEGIČ’S ENCRYPTION

Come back onto Istiklâl Caddesi and head towards Taksim Square. On your left, down Elhamra Pasajı, a newcomer to our walks, Gaia Gallery (main image), is hosting the solo show of the Slovenian artist, Mito Gegič. In Encryption, the viewer is presented with arresting mixed-media works that critique the classical understanding of the traditional painting and the digital repetitive image. Using duct tape, the artist creates multi-layered works – what at first appears to be a one-layer oil painting turns into something much more on a closer look. The smaller works are priced between €800 and €2,000 and the bigger works are priced from €4,000 to €8,000.

Mito Gegič, ‘Alma Mater’, 2014, acrylics, duct tape on canvas, 60 x 80 cm

The gallery’s founder, Nil Nuhoğlu, wants to see ‘more bravery from exhibitors and galleries in terms of creativity in projects’ in 2015.

Zeynep Kayan, ‘100’, video, 1’07”

PULL THE ROPE, WE’RE DOWNSTAIRS

Nearby, at Istiklâl Caddesi No 163, the building packed with galleries, Mısır Apartments, has new exhibitions of interest. On the second floor, Galeri Zilberman’s second venue, which has been turned into a space for artists wanting to exhibit a single project, is displaying the second of these projects. Pull the Rope We’re Downstairs collates recordings and video footage from a collaborative performance of the artists Zeynep Kayan and Burcu Bilgiç that took place last September. Working around the idea of ‘space’, the sound and visual recordings recreate the performance in an enigmatically lit space.

Santiago Sierra, ‘1000 Black Posters’, installation

SAY WHAT?

On the third floor, the gallery’s second space is hosting a group exhibition that brings together a number of artistic stances on what is meant by community and belonging in a global capitalist society. Say What? presents works by five international artists, working in the disciplines of video, photography and installation. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Nada Prlja, ‘The Rights / I am Romanian’, video

Some interesting works to looks out for are the Spanish artist Santiago Sierra’s photographs that depict posters on Istanbul streets from Beyoğlu to Galata to Cihangir to Tarlabaşı blackened out – a powerful series commenting on activism and protest art.

Meanwhile, the compelling video work by the Sarajevo-born artist Nada Prlja shows footage of disadvantaged children reading the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedom.

Sabo, ‘Virus, Subjects 2’, 2014, oil on canvas, 170 x 100 cm

SIGNS OF TIME’S CROSS THE EARTH, HER HEAD IS ON THE BALCONY

On the fourth floor, Pi Artworks is hosting the third exhibition of the Signs of Time artist collective, made up of Huo Rf, Sena, Sabo, Burak Ata and Burak Dak. The young artists came together as they admired each other’s work. Cross the earth, her head is on the balcony displays their recent works. In their different styles, the artists explore the subjects of reality, the actual and self-reckoning. Prices range from TL850 to TL6,000.

Sena, ‘Well’, 2014, ink on paper, 152 x 122 cm

Besides participating in the major international art fairs, Pi Artworks will participate in other fairs this year, such as Armory and Art Dubai. Echoing what many other gallery owners are saying, Pi Artworks hopes to see Turkish artists and galleries achieve big things in 2015, which will in turn encourage all players on the art scene, including audiences.

Exhibition view, ‘Cage’, 2014

MIKE BERG’S CAGE

Opposite, Galeri Nev is hosting the sixth solo show of the American artist, Mike Berg. Cage is the follow-up to Berg’s 2012 exhibition, Simple Geometry. Although Berg’s work has been influenced by the traditional textile and geometric art of Turkey and Central Asia in the past, this exhibition focuses on one monumental sculpture in steel. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Deniz Derin Akıncı, ‘What if seven worlds become one’, 2014, acetate, light globes, styrofoam, 40 x 40cm

OPEN CALL / OPEN DOOR

On the fifth floor, the Nesrin Esirtgen Collection is hosting its first Open Call / Open Door exhibition, which aims to showcase emerging talent. Endeavouring to put the gallery space to good use in the wintertime, the show displays works by the country’s young artists, working in any medium and subject. As NEC is a non-profit space, it doesn’t sell the works directly but artists can be contacted for prices directly.

Ozan Uzun, ‘Execution’, 2014, mixed media on paper, 90 x 100 cm

Says the gallery’s manager, Berçin Damgacı: ‘In 2015, I would love to see more site-specific installations, projects involving artists from different backgrounds, and collaborations between artists and architects and designers.’

Eliff Karadayı

ELIFF KARADAYI

Leave the building and keep heading down İstiklâl Caddesi towards Taksim. Go past the Galatasaray Lycée and turn down the first street on your right. At Turnacıbaşı Caddesi No 21, Gama is showcasing abstract, almost pop-art portraits by the artist Eliff Karadayı. In her signature style – with simple brushstrokes and bold colours – Karadayı depicts the important people in her life. Works are priced at $9,000. 

The gallery’s founder, Şule Claire Altıntaş, would like to see more ‘genuine’ works on the contemporary art scene in 2015.

Key: Red – Sanatorium, Yellow – Galerist, Green – Gaia Gallery, Blue – Mısır Apartment (Galeri Zilberman, Pi Artworks, Galeri Nev, Nesrin Esirtgen Collection), Purple – Gama

Click here for the interactive map. 

In our new blog series, the photographer Lynn Gilbert takes us on a journey through Turkish homes.

In my wanderings down streets and alleyways in Cappadocia, I once chanced upon this 1876 landmark Greek house in Ürgüp (above image). Cappadocia is a World Heritage Site with many stone houses built in and on large and small caves. Apart from the grandeur of this particular house, the sign saying ‘Cappadocia Art and History Museum’ was the draw. I never pass up a museum, even if I’m ready to drop.

This house is more than a museum. It is a building painstakingly restored from a wreck to its former glory. It was once a fabulous home and today the building not only houses a museum, but also a charming boutique hotel. Part of the museum is in a small labyrinth of cave-like rooms on the lower level.

I returned to photograph this room a number of times over the years in order to capture it in the right light. This is an iconic room and I wanted to show all its bones and beauty. It incorporates all the key elements of early Turkish design that I’ve seen in my travels around the country.

The arch is a significant architectural feature in the old stone houses in Turkey. The shape frequently appears as a small opening in wood-panelled walls and cabinetry. Treasured objects are tucked into these cubbyhole openings for unexpected discoveries.

The white curtains, in lace or a gauze-like fabric and often with a fringe, are found in virtually every traditional home. The use of embroidered linens over the banquettes, on cushions and as drapes over boxes (as seen on the box on the left) is also common. Fireplaces, back walls and boxes or appliances are also often covered with a drape, usually in a flower-patterned fabric. The banquette, the one piece of furniture that is built in, is also found in most old Turkish homes. Here, it frames the perimeter of the room on three sides with one part under the window, urging you to look inside the room.

This arrangement, the corners of the banquette meeting at forty-five degree angles, is not really conducive to conversation. Seated on ends of the same banquette, you must sit on one leg – as long as your joints allow – then twist your body in order to face the other person with whom you wish to speak.

Although Turks might not possess the ideal seating arrangement in their living rooms, they have something far more precious: families with a powerful sense of belonging. In most homes I visited, family members, arriving unannounced at any time of day, were always welcomed with open arms. In every place, my guide and I were instantly made to feel as part of the family.

The above photograph was taken several years ago in the basement of an ordinary home in a long row of well-maintained houses on a nondescript back street in Cappadocia. The elderly couple who owned the house had lived there for many years.

The husband, a farmer, used to park his red tractor outside the basement door. As the brilliant sunlight streamed into the sky blue room, it landed on yellow rubber boots just inside the door (not pictured here). The combination of these elements is a photographer’s dream.

The deeper blue arch, with patches of grey where the paint had peeled above, looked like clouds. The arch framed and highlighted a burst of light pouring through the painted wooden grate, illuminating not just the wall, but also cascading down the stairs. It emphasised the gradations of yellow, mustard, gold, cream, touches of green and grey worn paint on the steps. The unexpected delicacy of the metal doorframe to the right of the stairs pulled the eye inwards and upwards, just as the huge variations of grey patches on the floor pulled the eye back to the area below the stairs.

What finally punctuated the scene was the chartreuse curtain draped over a door on the left. When you see a totally unexpected use of a colour like this, you know it’s no accident. Whoever chose it cared deeply about not just colour, but also design and space. 

This was an utterly amazing treat. I’ve never seen a space like this before – and I probably never will.

Lynn Gilbert has been fascinated by people’s living environments since she was 16 years old. She has travelled the world photographing houses for most of her career. In nine trips to Turkey, Gilbert has photographed hundreds of homes in an effort to capture the living conditions of Turkish people, both affluent and modest, and to document the beautiful old houses that form part of Turkey's cultural heritage. Please visit her website for more photographs.

Copyright Lynn Gilbert.

We continue our walk in Beyoğlu this week, where we visit mostly solo shows and one research-based exhibition.

Ali Kazma, ‘Clock Master’, 2006, from the series ‘Obstructions’, 15’ single-channel video, production still, courtesy of the artist

ALI KAZMA’S TIMEMAKER

Let’s start at the Tünel end of İstiklâl Caddesi, where ARTER at No 211 (main image) is starting the year with a comprehensive exhibition of the video artist Ali Kazma. Undoubtedly one of the most important artists working today, Timemaker brings together 22 videos produced by Kazma in the last decade, especially concentrating on two series: Obstructions and Resistance. The majority of the works are being shown in Turkey for the first time.

Curated by Emre Baykal, who has previously curated Kazma’s stint at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013, the show opens with ‘Clock Master’ (2006), one of the earlier videos of the Obstructions series. In this series, which now comprises 18 pieces, Kazma explores the tense equilibrium between order and chaos, as well as life and death.

Ali Kazma, ‘Laboratory’, 2013, from the series ‘Resistance’, 5’ single-channel video, video still, courtesy of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts

Meanwhile, Resistance focuses on the human body and its restrictions. Works from this series are shown in a similar fashion to their installation at the Arsenale building in Venice, allowing for dialogue.

The exhibition traces the notion of time and calls for further reflection on the human struggle to exist within and against time, the time of the body, the working body and the temporality of space and production. The works are not for sale.

Poster

CEYLAN ÖZTÜRK’S HISTORY IN LOWERCASE

Keep walking towards Tünel and take a right into Asmalımescit Caddesi, where at No 5, ALAN Istanbul is opening the fourth solo show of the artist Ceylan Öztürk this Friday (February 6). In history in lowercase, the artist draws similarities between an artist and a historian. Known for her installations, Öztürk establishes sub-textual connections between the pieces in this exhibition, which include ready-mades, images, videos and plastic creations brought together in a large installation that takes over the whole space of the gallery. Transforming the way audiences move between and how they see the show, the installation relates the movement of viewers and their perception of space to the process of history writing. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Melih Akbıyık

MELIH AKBIYIK’S POSTPONED PAINTINGS

Turn right down the first perpendicular street you come across. At No 12, on the second floor, Galatea Art is opening the solo show of Melih Akbıyık next Tuesday (February 10).

Melih Akbıyık

In Postponed Paintings, Akbıyık presents her new series of abstract works depicting the recurring symbols of the female body, fish and large dots, in bold lines and subdued colours. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Ekrem Hakkı Ayverdi

EKREM HAKKI AYVERDI

On Meşrutiyet Caddesi, the Istanbul Research Institute at No 47 is hosting a research-based show about the architectural historian, restorer and collector Ekrem Hakkı Ayverdi (1899–1984).

Ayverdi was raised at a time when Turkey was undergoing serious change: the late Ottoman / early Republic period. Apart from being an engineer-architect, restorer and architectural historian, he was a fervent collector of Ottoman art. To commemorate the 30th anniversary of his passing, this show casts a light on Ayverdi’s fascinating life, his professional work and his priceless collection. The works are not for sale.

Genco Gülan

GENCO GULAN

A bit further afield, around Taksim Square, Piramid Sanat is hosting the conceptual artist and theorist Genco Gülan, whose trans-media contextual oeuvre spans a large spectrum of disciplines. Abstract maps displays works exploring the subject of geography and maps.

Genco Gülan

There are massive abstract paintings reinterpreting geographic coordinates, mixed media works depicting everyday objects, as well as sculptures and ready-mades that reference the great Ottoman admiral and geographer Piri Reis and the writer Jorge Luis Borges. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Jasper de Beijer, ‘08-29-2005’, C-print, 180 x 140 cm, 2014, €7,800 / TL21,490

JASPER DE BEIJER’S MR KNIGHT’S WORLD BAND RECEIVER

On the other side of Taksim Square, down Sıraselviler Caddesi, The Empire Project at No 10 is hosting the Dutch artist Jasper de Beijer, whose work is an original take on 19th and 20th century violence in Europe, America and beyond. De Beijer work combines elements of scale models and carefully assembled tableaux; the end result is something between photography, collage and sculpture. Each new body of work is cantered around a main theme, and the corresponding style, material and colour palate used is unique to the series.

Jasper de Beijer, ‘07-10-2011’, 2014, C-Print, 150 x 95 cm, €6,000 / TL16,530

Mr Knight’s World Band Receiver was inspired by the story of Christopher Knight, who at the age of 18 disappeared into the woods near North Pond, Chicago, USA. Knight avoided contact with other people for 27 years until he was finally found by the authorities in 2013. His main source of information about outside world was a small radio and for this series, De Beijer adopts Knight’s visual isolation and aims to visualise important historical events during this period from Knight’s perspective. Prices range from €5,500 to €8,500.

Asked what he hopes to see on the contemporary art scene in 2015, the gallery’s owner Kerimcan Güleryüz lists the following: ‘Committed collectors supporting their art scene, viewers taking the time to truly engage with the works, artists who are up to the challenge of braving the coming few years and creating original works rather than just embracing the commercially successful and or trendy scene and a greater sense of artistic community as a whole.’

Key: Red – ARTER, Yellow – ALAN Istanbul, Blue – Galatea Art, Green – Istanbul Research Institute, Orange – Piramid Sanat, Purple – The Empire Project

Click here for the interactive map. 

The Joan Miró: Women, Birds, Stars exhibition at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum has been extended until March 8, so if you haven’t yet seen this wonderful show, you still have some time.

For some background, watch the below short documentary, The Ladder of Escape, which follows some of the most tempestuous periods of the art world in the 20th century through the lens of Miró’s life. It is eloquently narrated by the actor Ed Harris.

Established to encourage translation of modern and contemporary Turkish poetry into English, submissions are now being accepted for the 2015 Meral Divitçi Prize for Turkish Poetry in Translation. 

Organised within the scope of the Seventh Annual Nâzım Hikmet Poetry Festival, which will be held on Sunday, April 26 at Page-Walker Arts and History Center in Cary, North Carolina, the award is named after the late Turkish poet and columnist Meral Divitçi and was established by her family members, Charlotte and Nezih Divitçi. 

The judging panel comprises Aron Aji, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at St Ambrose University and the Director, MFA in the Translation Program, University of Iowa; Erdağ Göknar, the Associate Professor of Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies at Duke University; and Sidney Wade, Professor in the Department of English, University of Florida. 

The award includes a cash prize of US$1,000 and publication in the official Nâzım Hikmet Poetry Festival book. Click here for the submission guidelines. The deadline is March 1, 2015. Please email submissions to contact@nazimhikmetpoetryfestival.org. 

In our new blog series, the photographer Lynn Gilbert takes us on a journey through Turkish homes.

The above image shows a room in a house in Daday, in the Black Sea province of Kastamonu. Climbing a narrow circular stairway to the top of the house, I walked into this room and felt as if I had been taken back in time. 

The tall mullioned windows imbued the huge, almost empty space: the feeling was akin to being in a greenhouse. There were no plants though, and I was able to focus on the space and the stunning beauty of the huge oriental carpet. There were banquettes around the perimeter of the room and unlikely antiques, such as an old spinning wheel, punctuated the space so that it didn’t feel barren. On a small round-skirted table surrounded by a few chairs in the centre of the room rested an antique brass time device.

Moved by the perfect light streaming through the windows, and trying to capture it straight away, I didn’t bother glancing around. But when I did, what I saw was even more stunning: the magical late afternoon golden sunlight streaming through the windows dappled and grazed the cream-coloured stone floor and the mellowed-with-age Turkish carpet illuminated the bottom of the fireplace with a burst of light, finally resting on the pear-shaped metal urn.

This room was more luxurious than many of the rooms I have visited, but like an old friend weathered with age, it too represented the beauty and timelessness of Turkish design: the carved wooden wall with small arched openings for objects and the stone fireplace, draped in parts with a curtain of patterned fabric. Here the fireplace was simple white stone, with two huge Arabic inscriptions painted on the wall above: striking, sensual and elegant.

As for the symbols, the one on the right ‘يا معبود’ means ‘O, worshiped one’, and the one on the left ‘يا محمود’ means ‘O, praised one’. And for me, no symbol, just that I felt blessed.

Lynn Gilbert, an established photographer, has been fascinated with people’s living environments since her early teens. Visiting 60 countries in six decades, she has seen more than 3,000 houses and 20,000 rooms. In her nine extended trips to Turkey, Gilbert became fascinated with the unique quality of the Turkish home. Her photographic study documents – for the first time – the beautiful old houses, both humble and affluent, that form part of Turkey’s cultural heritage. Please visit her website for more photographs.

We are in Nişantaşı this week for a gallery walk of three solo shows, one duo show and one group show. There is a concentration on paintings, sculptures and figurative works in this walk.

Exhibition view

DIRK SKREBER’S OBSERVE

Let’s start on the fashionable Abdi İpekçi Caddesi where Dirimart at No 7 is hosting the first solo show in Turkey of the acclaimed German artist Dirk Skreber.

Dirk Skreber, ‘Rakhel’, 2013, foam tape on laminated wood, 200 x 181 cm

Although mostly known for his car crash sculptures and works exploring catastrophes, in Observe, Skreber presents a series of female nudes, made with his signature style of picking through strips of foam rubber on wood, as well as a selection of works on canvas. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Murat Palta, ‘A Clockwork Orange’

MURAT PALTA’S DEPICTIONS OF WHITE SCREEN

Further down at No 42, x-ist is hosting the first solo show of the young artist Murat Palta. Palta turns famous (and infamous) scenes from Hollywood and Turkish films into Ottoman miniatures that were popularised in the 16th century. Kubrick’s classics such as A Clockwork Orange and The Shining are presented alongside gangster film such as Goodfellas and Scarface, as well as cult Turkish movies such as Yavuz Turgul’s Eskiya (The Bandit).

Murat Palta, ‘Eskiya/The Bandit’

Having become popular in the digital arena and hosting a successful show at the Civic Museum of Bagnacavallo in Italy last year, Palta shows his latest series of miniature cinema scenes, Depictions of White Screen, to Istanbul audiences. These meticulously detailed, gorgeous pieces are priced at €2,750 each.

Utku Dervent, ‘Stalemate’, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 120 x 120cm

İLKER YARDIMCI AND UTKU DERVENT’S BEING THERE

Make your way to parallel Teşvikiye Caddesi through the narrow Atiye Sokak and find Bozlu Art Project at No 35 (opposite the monstrous City’s shopping complex). The gallery is showcasing İlker Yardımcı’s chrome sculptures and Utku Dervent’s colourful, geometric paintings in Being There. Referencing Jerzy Kosiński’s novel of the same name, the show highlights the artists’ stylistic similarities and explores concepts such as timelessness, perception and reality.

İlker Yardımcı, ‘Lyrical Message I’, 2012, aluminium, 95 x 92 x 65cm

The exhibition also emphasises that every work that leaves an artist’s workshop is open to different perspectives and meanings with each observer it comes across. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Gazi Sansoy’ Dangerous Crossing’, 2012, oil on canvas, 125 x 151 cm

Two parallel streets away, on Şakayık Sokak, a new addition to our walks, Türker Art at No 43 (main image) is hosting a group exhibition entitled Art Attack ‘Master Works’. Figurative works by both master and emerging artists are showcased. There are photorealistic, abstract and surrealist paintings from different periods and produced in different patterns, styles and colours.

Devrim Erbil, ‘Red Istanbul’, 2012, oil on canvas, 90 x 140 cm

Works range from Gazi Sansoy’s outstanding example of pop-art and contemporary miniature, not dissimilar from Murat Palpa’s work; Devrim Erbil bloody depiction of Istanbul, ‘Red Istanbul’; Zeynep Solakoğlu’s vibrantly coloured piece ‘Swanika Land’ inspired by mythological fairy tales and myths; Iranian artist Hemad Javadzade’s emotional work ‘Ruby and the Swan’; Malik Bulut’s marble statue; Serdar Akkılıç’s latest ‘Messenger’ series; as well as works by Komet, Mustafa Horasan, Mehmet Uygun and Bubi. Prices range from TL5,000 to TL35,000.

Ömer Kaleşi

ÖMER KALEŞI

On the next parallel street, Prof Dr Orhan Ersek Sokak at No 14, TEM Gallery is showing the paintings of the veteran artist, Ömer Kaleşi.

The gallery’s owner, Besi Cecan, calls Kaleşi ‘one of the best Turkish artists’. Working with him for the last 29 years, Cecan describes him as ‘pure, sincere and a great painter’.

Ömer Kaleşi

Migrating to Turkey from the former Yugoslavia (where he was born) in the 1950s, Kaleşi’s education under the great Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu is evident – he produces dramatic abstract works in his signature colours of reds, blacks and burnt yellows. His works have been sold in more than 15 countries such as the USA, France, Austria, Belgium, Holland and Italy, to name a few. Prices range from TL 8,900 to TL66,500.

Key: Red – Dirimart, Purple – x-ist, Blue – Bozlu Art Project, Yellow – Türker Art, Green – TEM Art Gallery

Click here for interactive map. 

It’s the time of year again when applications are being accepted for the Arif Mardin Music Fellowship. Launched in 2007 by The American Turkish Society (ATS) in memory of the world-renowned producer Arif Mardin (1932–2006) – who was also the Vice Chairman of the ATS for many years – the Fellowship aims to further the education of promising musicians from Turkey and give them a chance to study in the States. The programme is conducted in partnership with the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, where Mardin’s own music career began (he was the first recipient of the Quincy Jones Scholarship).

The Fellowship funds one student to attend the Five-Week Summer Performance Program (from July 11 to August 15, 2015) at Berklee. Individuals of Turkish descent or nationality, over the age of 15, with a minimum of six months experience playing their instrument (or singing), are eligible to apply, with preference being given to applicants 18 years of age and younger. In 2014, the Fellowship was awarded to Su Özer, an 18-year-old vocalist from Istanbul. Watch her perfom ‘One Night Only’ below.

Past recipients have included: Kemal Efe Eroğlu (guitar), Sırma Munyar (piano/vocal), Canberk Kargı (drums), Erol Balci (guitar), Olgun Açar (percussion), now a regular at Nardis Jazz Club, Emire Demirdağ (percussion) and Kerem Enhoş (percussion).

Click here for more info and to apply. Applicants must remember to specify that they would like to apply for the Arif Mardin Music Fellowship specifically. The below video gives a good idea of what the programme entails.

In addition to its two regular summer programmes, the Research Centre for Anatolian Civilisation (RCAC) is introducing a brand-new programme this year. 

The Summer Programme for Ottoman and Turkish will run from July 6 to August 13, 2015 from RCAC’s Galatasaray venue. This intensive programme is open to graduate students interested in contuining their study of Ottoman. The programme will also offer additional courses in Persian and Turkish to those who want to improve their skills.

Participants will be given the chance to read and translate Ottoman Turkish texts in various contexts. The readings will include histories, hagiographies, literary texts, legal documents, court registers, etc. Participants will reside at the RCAC and dinner will be included four evenings a week. To apply, you must have studied Ottoman Turkish for at least a year and knowledge of Arabic and/or Persian is also valued. Click here to apply. Applications close April 15, 2015. 

You can also apply for the Istanbul Through the Ages programme (June 29 – July 21) or the Cappadocia in Context programmt (June 11 – June 26). Good luck!

In this blog series, the photographer Lynn Gilbert takes us on a journey through Turkish homes.

There are a couple of thousand people living in Çamlıhemşin, a small town on a plateau in the mountainous area of Rize, in the Eastern Black Sea region.

At the base of the rolling mountains, covered with a dense mix of dark green trees, you can look up and spot houses here and there, but there is no way of getting to them without a local guide. You drive on dirt roads with hairpin turns, with the wheels of your vehicle only a millimetre from the edge. And then there are the many forks in the road: miss the right one and you might never find your way back through the labyrinth.

Once you and your guide arrive at a parking area, there are no more roads. Then you climb – you really climb. The rocky pathways to many of the houses are lightly trod, slippery and treacherous. When the path is at the edge of the mountain, you dare not look down to admire the breath-taking scenery for fear you just might end up falling into the forest.

Some of the houses are more recently built; some seem to be out of a storybook, transporting you back in time. There are single homes, spaced far apart, and there are houses that appear to be so closely linked at the hip that as you cross the stone paths, it feels like you are going down a hallway.

It’s the really old dwellings that create the magic in this area. Each has its own character. Built a couple of hundred years ago, the buildings sit on the edge of the mountain, weathered from age and seemingly small and fragile, with the front of their structures resting on stilts. Looking at them you feel that if you stepped inside, the floor might cave in. These houses, though, are rock solid and substantially larger than they appear. Passed down from generation to generation, their value is incalculable and they are never for sale.

In the photograph above, the coarsely wood-framed window is the core of the room, drawing the eye from one spectacular mountain range to the next. The mathematically partitioned windowpanes reinforce the drama of the view by breaking it up into parts. The tiny patch of houses in a meadow in the far distance anchors you to the real world, confirming that what you are seeing is not a fantasy.

Faded rust-coloured fabric covers the seat of the wide, hard divan, and a deep skirt of the same fabric, roughly stitched below the edge, falls to the floor. Scattered on the divan are pillows of deep unfaded rust of the same pattern, casually mixed with bright pink cotton pillows. Narrow panels painted the same rust colour are framed by unpainted wood.

This is a quietly thought out room. It is also lived in. The pillows are left unplumped. The table, covered in a plastic cloth, is used for cleaning vegetables, which the lady of the house did as she sat facing me while I photographed her (not shown) and the room.

What gives this room that final ‘snap’ are the plain white fabric curtains – one nailed to the corner of the side window and casually falling in clumps on a pillow, the other nailed by its two corners to the right-hand frame of the centre window and then unceremoniously draped over a lower divider.

Here in this calm and vibrant mountain room, you feel at peace and at one with the world. And what a gorgeous world it is.

Lynn Gilbert, an established photographer, has been fascinated with people’s living environments since her early teens. Visiting 60 countries in six decades, she has seen more than 3,000 houses and 20,000 rooms. In her nine extended trips to Turkey, Gilbert became fascinated with the unique quality of the Turkish home. Her photographic study documents – for the first time – the beautiful old houses, both humble and affluent, that form part of Turkey’s cultural heritage. Please visit her website for more photographs.

Copyright Lynn Gilbert. 

In this week’s walk, we explore galleries in two nearby neighbourhoods: Nişantaşı and Beşiktaş. There are mostly solo exhibitions, and many of the shows deal with societally important topics.

Ali İbrahim Öcal, ‘Meer because the expression is better’, 2015, acrylic on canvas, 115 x 165 cm

TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT

Start on Mim Kemal Öke Caddesi, where Merkur at No 12 is hosting the group exhibition, Take it or leave it. Curated by Melike Bayık and Mergüze Günay, this show looks at the tempo of modern city life and how this affects the environment. Urbanisation is a hot topic in Turkey at the moment and this exhibition presents works by ten popular artists who explore the subject – whether in a serious tone or with humour – through painting, mixed-media works and photography.

Manbor, ‘Power and Beauty’, 2015, digital printed panel, 210 x 170 cm or C-print 100 x 80 cm

There are works by Ali İbrahim Öcal, who makes creepy hybrid images which explore the connection between nature and our cultural memory (although his acrylic on canvas depicting water is a much more subdued work); Saliha Yılmaz’s witty mixed-media works in which she replaces people’s heads with various objects (in this case plants); Şifa Girinci’s unusual portraits also incorporating plants; Volkan Kızıltunç’s stunning realistic photography; and much more. Prices range between TL1,000 and TL20,000.

Exhibition view, with artist

YUSUF TAKTAK’S TOP TO BOTTOM, LEFT TO RIGHT 1915–2015

Head towards Maçka Park and at No 31, Maçka Sanat is hosting the veteran artist Yusuf Taktak’s exhibition, Top to Bottom, Left to Right 1915–2015. This highly conceptual but important show traces 100 years of the aftermath of the Armenian genocide, a topic being bravely approached by a few artists in Turkey at the moment (see Fatih Akin’s powerful film The Cut, for example).

Arranged in an interesting way around the gallery space, three sections take audiences on a journey from top to bottom and left to right, referencing the structures of modern-day political systems. Works in various disciplines are presented, including plastic arts. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

A work in the exhibition by Çağdaş Erçelik

KARMA

Now, make your way to Maçka Caddesi where Galeri Eksen at No 29 is in its last week of exhibiting Karma, an interdisciplinary group show displaying paintings, sculptures, illustrations, digital prints and videos by emerging Turkish artists and filmmakers.

Works span contemplations on the famous writer and poet Nâzım Hikmet by Çağdaş Erçelik to a painting of Tuncel Kurtiz, Turkey’s best-loved actor, by Zafer Erkan. Prices range between TL5,000 and TL15,000. 

Mustafa Pancar

MUSTAFA PANCAR’S THE WAYSIDE

Head down the street away from Maçka and towards Teşvikiye, and at No 35, Milli Reasürans Art Gallery is hosting the renowned artist Mustafa Pancar. After a five-year hiatus, the artist is back with a series of small-scale works, The Wayside, that explore political power systems and ensuing revolts. Prices range between TL3,500 and TL40,000.

Mustafa Pancar

In an accompanying book, art critic and creative director at Kuad Gallery, Beral Madra, draws similarities between Pancar’s work and Ottoman miniatures: ‘In the miniature paintings of war, palaces and ceremonies at the Topkapı Palace and the Hippodrome, we see clusters of people. In the small-scale works in [Pancar’s] new series, produced using the collage technique, the artist retains the fields of colour and figure-based narrative that appear in his large oil paintings and drawings.’

Damla Özdemir, ‘Dip-Depth’, 2014, wood and fine art print – 3D collage, 63 x 80 x 4 cm

DAMLA ÖZDEMIR’S MINOR SABOTAGE

Come to the intersection ahead where a statue of Hüsrev Gerede, a 20th-century officer and politician, stands imposingly on the corner. Make your way down Hüsrev Gerede Caddesi. At No 37, Galeri Ilayda is hosting Damla Özdemir’s Minor Sabotage, which presents her latest series of three-dimensional collages, which are, as per usual, dominated by women and have a retro feel. Prices range between TL1,000 and TL15,000.

Damla Özdemir, ‘Equalizer’ 2014, assemblage and smoky quartz and fine art print, 27 x 34 x 7 cm

Associate Professor at the Fine Arts Faculty at Yeditepe University and Contemporary Istanbul’s Programme Director, Marcus Graf, says: ‘Although she does not consider herself a feminist, [Özdemir’s] oeuvre shows parallels to feminist criticism in her review of the status quo of women in male-dominated societies. While doing so, she never slips into a dry political conceptualism or didactic narratives but finds appealing artistic forms, where irony and beauty cause an attractive aesthetic.’

Giuseppe Mastromatteo, ‘Unknown identity’, 2015, giclèe on baryta paper, 20 x 20cm, edition 8

GIUSEPPE MASTROMATTEO’S HOMOGENIC

Keep heading down and turn right into Şair Nedim Caddesi. When you reach Akaretler, C.A.M Galeri at No 25 is in its last week of hosting the first solo show in Turkey of the Italian photographer, Giuseppe Mastromatteo. His latest series Homogenic, comprising eight hyperrealist portraits, as well as some of his older works are displayed. Prices range from €1,200 to €4,000.

Giuseppe Mastromatteo, ‘Indepensense I-35’, 2012, giclee print, 80 x 110cm, editions 3–8

‘The most captivating feature of the [portraits] is that the eyes never change,’ says the gallery’s director, Melek Gencer. ‘There is also a video work that shows all the figures and how they transform into each other. Using the same eyes highlights that human beings all come from the same origin.’

Hüseyin Aksoylu, ‘Untitled’, 2015, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 230 cm

HÜSEYIN AKSOYLU'S HUNGER

Keep heading down the street and on the opposite side at No 2, Art ON (main image) is opening Hüseyin Aksoylu’s second solo show, Hunger tomorrow (February 24). The artist examines the dynamics that underline the process of adapting to nature and social order. He investigates this topic through different mediums, spanning canvas, video, sculpture and digital images. 

Hüseyin Aksoylu, ‘Scissors’, 2015, fine art print, 70 x 100cm

‘Aksoylu’s oeuvre deals with the continuous quest for a balance between following spontaneous impulses and adapting to a system of values,’ says the gallery’s press officer, Hazal Altun. ‘The emphasis on “hunger” that gives the exhibition its name is the most basic instinct that keeps humans alive and also implies our desire to strive for more.’ Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Key: Red – Merkur, Green – Maçka Sanat, Yellow – Galeri Eksen, Purple – Milli Reasürans Art Gallery, Orange – Galeri Ilayda, Blue – C.A.M. Galeri, Grey – Art ON Istanbul

Click here for the interactive map. 

Readers in the US, a treat is coming to your TV screens this Wednesday (February 25). Providence Pictures is releasing the third installment in its Building Wonders series. The first, on the Colosseum, aired on February 11, the second on Petra aired on February 18, and the third, entitled Hagia Sophia – Istanbul’s Ancient Mystery, will premiere at 9pm on WGBH Channel 2 and PBS's NOVA on Wednesday (with re-runs at 2am, 5am and 1pm on Thursday, on WGBX 44). It is also available to watch on this site. The programme features Robert Ousterhout, a recognised specialist in Byzantine architecture, author and Cornucopia contributor (peruse his books in the Cornucopia store).

In this series, ancient writings and technology, along with expert opinions from historians, scientists, architects and engineers, are used to explore how the Colosseum, Petra and Haghia Sophia actually worked, architecturally speaking. For the Haghia Sophia part, Providence Pictures worked with earthquake engineers in Istanbul to build an eight-tonne brick-and-mortar model of the 1,500-year-old building, placed it on a seismic shake table and pushed it to collapse. The experiment was designed to investigate how Haghia Sophia has been able to withstand centuries of earthquakes while buildings around it collapsed.

If you’re not in the US, chances are the programme will be available on YouTube in the coming weeks. French speakers, there is already a version dubbed in your language that you can watch below.  

There’s still time to see the compact but thoroughly enjoyable exhibition Propaganda and War: The Allied Front during the First World War at the RCAC. Organised within the scope of the 100th anniversary of the First World War, historical objects, archival documents and Ottoman artefacts and memorabilia from the Ömer M Koç Collection paint a picture of how the four-year war required the power of propaganda to establish and foster a sense of ‘Brothers in Arms’ between the Alliance countries.

Curated by Bahattin Öztuncay and designed by Yeşim Demir, the show is wonderfully lit and laid out. The selection of medals, aid badges, posters, postcards, china, glassware, banners and flags, with the crescent and star symbolising the Ottoman Empire, on display once adorned the streets of Berlin and Vienna – places where in the years just preceding the war these very the symbols of the threat of siege.

From ‘Krausz Album’, Vienna, 1915–16

The Ottoman Empire’s alliance with Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Bulgaria meant that side-by-side portraits of these regions’ respective leaders – Sultan Mehmed V, Emperor Wilhelm II, Franz Joseph I and King Ferdinand I – were ingrained into the social consciousness in cities across the empires. The above shows a rare album plate of Mehmed V by Wilhelm Viktor Krausz, one of the most prolific war artists, who depicted various leaders and military commanders between 1915 and 1916. The volume it is from also contains the first known portrait of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

Photographs and colourful designs symbolising the ‘Alliance’ were pervasive in newspapers, books and on billboards. Above is one such photograph that would have saturated the press at the time: it shows a meeting between Wilhelm II and Mehmed V, with Shaykh ul-Islam Hayri Efendi and the Minister of War Enver Pasha looking on.

Colour lithograph posters were also widespread. The above image shows five such posters, with the one in the middle ‘The Balkans and the Orient in Pictures’ designed by another war artist, Oskar Laske, in 1918.

But ‘perhaps the most remarkable’ among the print mediums, and ‘also the cheapest but most expressive, were postcards’. ‘Medals of the poor, they were printed in Germany, Austria and occasionally in the Ottoman Empire, and occupied a colourful and shifting space of communication that could move across borders with much greater ease than crockery or even medals,’ says the accompanying catalogue (available from the Cornucopia store). The above shows a case of the postcards on display (top) and a close-up of a Triple and Quadruple Alliance propaganda postcard (bottom).

Porcelain goods and decorative objects were made as Alliance souvenirs. Fine coffee cups, vases and plates like in the photo above (again often featuring the faces of the Alliance members’ leaders) were designed to publicise and glorify anything related to the Alliance countries’ military and political struggle against the Entente. To German and Austrian families of this period they would have been a part of everyday life. 

The above image shows a selection of alliance commemorative medals. ‘The Ottoman War Medal could be understood as a very successful graphic translation of the German Iron Cross. The Ottomans did not go as far as calling their medal the Iron Star (Demir Yıldız), but the Germans did so in their stead: [they colloquially called] the Ottoman War Medal Eiserner Halbmond or Iron Crescent,’ the catalogue says.

A significant number of objects that show children juxtaposed with war quotes produced the most blatant form of propaganda. The most interesting pieces from this section are puzzles and toys (seen in the image above). Featuring Alliance motifs and illustrations of soldiers and civilians, they depicted a playful approach to a tragic event.

The exhibition continues until March 22, 2015.

In part one of our two-part Karaköy/Tophane gallery walk, we visit five galleries where solo and group shows explore feminism, memories and the First World War through different mediums, from painting to textiles.

Merve Çanakçı, ‘100 Splinters’, 2014, acrylic on denim, 188 x 153 cm

MERVE ÇANAKÇI’S PAPER CUT

Let’s start on Mumhane Caddesi, which runs parallel to the main drag, Kemeraltı Caddesi, where the tram runs. At No 67, artSümer is hosting the young Berlin-based artist Merve Çanakçı’s third solo show, Paper Cut. What is interesting about Çanakçı is that she makes her art from recycled fabrics, incorporating – and making a feature of – their defects. The fabrics she chooses – silk, wool or sponge – depend on the message she is trying to convey.

Merve Çanakçı, ‘Controlled Wiggle’, 2014, pencil on found fabric, different sizes

The exhibition primarily deals with childhood memories, says the gallery’s owner, Aslı Sümer. Revisiting childhood moments as adults and dealing with past scars (thus the ‘paper cut’ metaphor) is the central point of the show. Each work is unique and warrants strong emotions, Sümer says, but her two personal favourites are ‘100 Splinters’ (above top) and ‘Controlled Wiggle’ (above bottom). Prices range between €500 and €9,000.

Berna Gülbey Derman, ‘Counter Stance’, 2014, oil on canvas, 130 x 200 cm, courtesy of Space Debris

BERNA GÜLBEY DERMAN’S COUNTER STANCE

On the narrow parallel street, Hoca Tahsin Sokak, next to the tea haven Dem, Space Debris Art, at No 15, is hosting the young feminist, Berna Gülbey Derman. In Counter Stance, her new oil paintings challenge the male-dominated societal ideologies and shift the notion of the male gaze to the viewer, offering an insight into how the female body is perceived in both patriarchal society and art history.

Berna Gülbey Derman, ‘Men are Flowers Too’, 2015, oil on canvas, 30 x 38 cm, courtesy of Space Debris

‘Gülbey Derman has developed a language where she paints figures in surreal landscapes and questions body-gender politics in relation to the cultural norms in patriarchal society,’ says the gallery’s manager, Seyhan Musaoğlu. ‘Her figurative technique is inspired by the old masters, yet she has formed a style that places her in the contemporary context.’

Musaoğlu urges collectors to pay attention to the painting that gives the exhibition its name, ‘Counter Stance’ (above top), ‘an inspiring piece taking a strong stance with respect to women’s freedom of sexuality and safety in today’s society’. Meanwhile, ‘Men are flowers too’ (above, bottom) is full of witty satire that can be seen in almost all the artist’s paintings. Small works range from TL1,000 to TL2,000, while the big pieces (from 1.5–2m in size) range from TL11,500 to TL14,000.

Exhibition view of Ulrike Rosenbach’s ‘Ticinium’, 2012

ÇANAKKALE BIENNIAL: COORDINATES 40°9′0″N-26°24′0″E

Navigate your way to the main drag and head inland on Kumbaracı Yokuşu. You will soon find DEPO, which is in its last week of hosting the group show, Çanakkale Biennial: Coordinates 40°9′0″N-26°24′0″E. Curated by Beral Madra, Seyhan Boztepe and Deniz Erbaş, the exhibition displays work previously shown at the last two Çanakkale Biennials (2012 and 2014), examining and interpreting the political, social and cultural effects of the First World War via contemporary art. 

Ani Setyan, ‘Missing List’, 2012

Works range from the Lebanese artist Nigol Bezjian’s multi-disciplinary work ‘Canakayna’; the German artist Ulrike Rosenbach’s ‘Ticinium’ – a video showing an improvised dance of Turkish dancers set against the backdrop of plaintive sounds from Trojan women; and Ani Seytan’s ‘Missing List’, which was originally an installation in the Korfmann Library and shines a light on soldiers who died in 1915 and have been erased from public memory. Works are for sale, but not directly through DEPO. Please enquire with the artists’ galleries for information and prices.

Gülşah Bayraktar, ‘Snow’, 2014, acrylic on MDF, with margins and frame: 49 cm x 50.6 cm, without margins and frame: 9.5 x 10 cm

GÜLŞAH BAYRAKTAR’S CLOSE TO SELF

Backtrack across the park to the next street leading up to İstiklâl (directly opposite the Kılıç Ali Paşa complex), Boğazkesen Caddesi. Mixer (main image) at No 45 is hosting the artist Gülşah Bayraktar, who mostly concentrates on topics such as memory and identity. For Close To Self, the artist took old photographs of strangers and depicted the same scenes on miniature wood canvases. ‘The way the artist frames her works on black mats reminds us of old photo albums, before everything went digital,’ says Mixer’s manager, Bengü Gün. 

‘For me the standout work is ‘Kar’ (‘Snow’),’ says Gün (shown above top with margins and above bottom without). ‘I would advise collectors to have a careful look at it. Even though winter is depressing and snow poses challenges, this work seems tranquil. The way the figure is depicted, with self-confidence and joy, makes the work shine.’ Prices range from TL2,500 to TL4,000.

Korhan Karaoysal

MULTIPLE CHOICE

Further up and across the street at No 76, Daire is hosting a group exhibition of emerging artists. The curator, Sevda Süzer, came across these artists in her search for new talent, her attention drawn by the ways each of them explores school and education. She has collated their works in an exhibition aptly titled Multiple Choice.

‘The most poignant thing about the exhibition is that it shows how schooling has left deep marks on these artists, so much so that they feel the need to reflect this in their art,’ says the galley’s owner Selin Söl.

Buğra Erol

Collectors should pay attention to Korhan Karaoysal’s stunning photos (above top), as well as Buğra Erol’s remarkable diabox pieces (above bottom). Prices range from TL300 to TL6,000. Anti-pop’s prints are free to visitors.

Key: Red – artSümer, Green – Space Debris Art, Yellow – DEPO, Blue – Mixer, Orange – Daire

Click here for the interactive map. 

Turkish artists take note: applications are now being accepted for the School of Visual Arts (SVA) Summer Residency Programme, which takes place between June 1 and July 2, 2015 in New York.

Sponsored by the Moon and Stars Project of the American Turkish Society (which also supports young artists through its excellent Young Photographers Award) and SVA, this internationally renowned programme offers artists the opportunity to work in a private studio, receive critique from faculty, and attend weekly lectures given by guest artists, critics and gallery directors. Best of all, it offers artists exposure to the New York art world: the programme culminates in an open studio exhibition, which enables the artist to present his/her work to the public.

It’s important to note that the scholarship is open only to active professional artists with an established studio presence residing in Turkey, but who are not represented by a gallery. As such, current undergraduate students are ineligible to apply, but applications from graduate students are welcome. Qualified applicants must have basic fluency in English sufficient for engaging in meaningful dialogue with other participants.

The winning participant’s travel, accommodation, transportation, materials and expenses will all be covered. Click here to download the form (in both Turkish and English). Applications close on April 1 and the winning participant will be announced on May 8, 2015. Good luck!