We are in Beyoğlu (seen from above in the main photo) this week for our gallery walk, with two solo shows, two group shows and a fascinating research exhibition on offer. Again, some of the galleries will be closing for the summer months so get in quick for one more injection of art. Coincidentally, most of the exhibitions covered display black-and-white works, whether photographs or interesting works on paper.
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Kezban Arca Batıbeki
DOLLS
We begin at the Tünel side of Istiklal Caddesi where ALAN Istanbul, at No 5 Asmalı Mescit Caddesi, is hosting the provocative, kitsch photographs by the Turkish artist Kezban Arca Batıbeki. In Dolls, Batıbeki’s images are constructed using objects she collects from Turkey and beyond to present viewers with alternate worlds in black and white reminiscent of film noir scenes, but using dolls. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.
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Erol Eskici, ‘Yüceler Yücesi’, 2014 acrylic on paper, 135 x 35 cm
SUBLIME
Further down the street at No 32, Sanatorium is hosting a group exhibition, entitled Sublime. ‘We decided to do this group exhibition at the request of our represented artists,’ says the gallery’s director, Feza Velicangil. ‘This exhibition is assertive. I can say that each piece has become prominent. Some examples is a new series by Sergen Şehitoğlu, which is inspired by the photographs of Thomas Ruff, the first piece from Ahmet Doğu İpek’s new series and Erol Eskici’s acrylic work on paper.’ Except for Luz Blanco’s piece, which is from the artist’s collection, all pieces are for sale. Prices range between TL1,000 and TL25,000.
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Ahmet Doğu İpek, ‘Untitled’, 2014
‘When Feza asked me to curate a show with the gallery’s artists, it was a challenge to find a concept that would relate to all the artists’ practices on a conceptual level,’ begins the show’s curator, Elif Gül Tirben. ‘I could sense that all the artists, in one way or another, were dealing with phenomena that were exceeding them: the city, politics, gender inequalities so I asked the artists to reflect on the “Sublime”, namely the concepts and feelings that overcome us. Most of the artists produced new works. Ahmet Doğu İpek, for instance, drew dreamlike cityscapes with extremely detailed skyscrapers that he calls Building-Porn because of urbanization’s overwhelming effect. I am also very happy with how the works interact with each other in the space. You can see a tranquil, meditative watercolour opposite a photography series abstracted from the sharp objects we use in our daily lives.’
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Arik Levy, ‘Iris Black Hole’, acrylic on handmade paper, 95 x 97 cm
CLOSEST DISTANCE
On perpendicular Meşrutiyet Caddesi, Galerist, at No 67 will open a group exhibition this Friday (June 27) of its represented artists, entitled Closest Distance. With a variety of top artists spanning diverse disciplines each focusing on the use of line, this promises to be a satisfying exhibition. Prices are from TL3,000 to TL60,000. ‘The trend in the current cotemporary art world is to try something new,’ says the gallery’s director and the curator of the exhibition, Eda Berkmen. ‘Each artist creates his or her own unique technique, experimenting with old and new materials.’
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‘The Guestbook of Nazlı Hamdi’, 1907–1901, Edhem Eldem Collection
NAZLI’S GUESTBOOK
Come back onto İstiklâl Caddesi and, just to the left, the Research Centre for Anatolian Civilisations (RCAC) at No 181 is hosting yet another stimulating exhibition, entitled Nazlı’s Guestbook. ‘This exhibition is a project of the historian and curator Edhem Eldem. He received the guestbook of Nazlı Hamdi (the youngest child of the famed artist, archaeologist and museum director Osman Hamdi Bey) from her daughter Cenan Sarç,’ says RCAC’s events specialist Şeyda Çetin. ‘The guestbook, kept between 1907 and 1911, is an impressive document featuring signatures of leading figures of the time. The original book is on display in a glass case and visitors can read it page by page on the iPad next to it.’
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‘Concert programme’, January 31, 1908, engraved silver plaque, Faruk and Zerrin Sarç Collection
‘Another vivid case in the exhibition belongs to Nazlı Hamdi’s music instructor, Michele Virgilio. The score in the notebook was played by the violinist Cecilia Varadi. Visitors can listen to it by touching an imitated gramophone. This piece stands next to a silver plate on which the program of a concert held on January 31, 1908 at the Union Française building in Pera is inscribed. Among the members of prominent families of that era, Nazlı Hamdi is mentioned as the soloist of Beethoven’s third piano concerto,’ continues Çetin.
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‘A page from the guestbook of Nazlı Hamdi signed by her music professor, Michele Virgilio’, March 28, 1907, Edhem Eldem Collection
Eldem has been studying the life of Osman Hamdi Bey for many years wanted to explore the boundaries of creating a comprehensive narration based on one specific document of a subjective and arbitrary nature. ‘I think what I enjoyed most when preparing this exhibition was following leads concerning some of the individuals in the notebook,’ says Eldem. ‘This could range from discovering that a photograph in the Gertrude Bell archives registered as ‘a view of the Bosporus’ was in fact a photograph she took of Hamdi’s house in Eskihisar to realising that there were actually two different Max Kemmerichs, father and son, one of whom I was able to identify thanks to a postcard posted on flickr.com by a Texan World War I aficionado. Likewise, it was great to find out that Jeanne Bordes was related to the Reclus brothers, famous geographers-cum-anarchists of the time.’ The RCAC stays open during the summer months.
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Elif Suyabatmaz
ELIF SUYABATMAZ’S TRACES OF ISTANBUL
Keep heading down İstiklâl Caddesi, go past the Galatasaray Lycée and turn down the first street on your right. On Turnacıbaşı Caddesi, at No 21, the tiny Gama is hosting the solo exhibition of Elif Suyabatmaz, entitled Traces of Istanbul. ‘The artist took instant photos while walking around Istanbul,’ says the gallery’s director, Şule Claire Altıntaş. ‘She has an exceptional eye and what makes her cutting-edge is that she only takes photos with her iPhone so she fits perfectly into the current art scene.’ Prices range from $250 (10 x 10 cm) to $500 (40 x 40 cm).
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Elif Suyabatmaz
‘Suyabatmaz’s technique reflects the current trend: iPhotography. In addition, anything to do with Istanbul right now is very contemporary,’ continues Altıntaş. The gallery closes after this exhibition and reopens on August 15, 2014.
Main image courtesy of WikiMedia Commons.
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Key: Blue – ALAN, Red – Sanatorium, Green – Galerist, Yellow – RCAC, Purple – Gama
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