Fahrelnissa Zeid @ Istanbul Modern

Fahrelnissa Zeid
Istanbul Modern
May 30 - July 30, 2017

Istanbul Modern presents a selection from its comprehensive collection of works by Fahrelnissa Zeid, a pioneer of modern art in Turkey and one of the first exponents of abstract art.

 Eleven years after “Two Generations of the Rainbow”, Istanbul Modern’s retrospective of  Fahrelnissa Zeid together with her son Nejad Melih Devrim, Istanbul Modern revisits  its collection of Fahrelnissa Zeid for a special selection in its Pop-Up Exhibition Area.

The exhibition features 23 artworks, not only abstract geometric compositions in which the artist excelled, but also expressionist paintings that merge her unique color palette with references to Byzantine, Islamic, and Western art.

The selection focuses on Fahrelnissa Zeid’s most prolific years between the 1940s, that marks her introduction to the art scene in Turkey, and the 1970s, when she moved to Amman, Jordan.

The global art world’s revived interest in Fahrelnissa Zeid has led to a flurry of her works in 2017, including group shows in Haus der Kunst in Munich and GAM di Torino. This year, 8 works from the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art Collection that are among the most important in Zeid’s career will be on view in London, Berlin, and Beirut, starting with her retrospective at Tate Modern as of June the 13th.

Oya Eczacıbaşı: Our first donation, which made a dream come true

Oya Eczacıbaşı, Chair of the Board of Istanbul Modern, explained the special significance of Fahrelnissa Zeid to Istanbul Modern as well as in Turkey’s modern art: “When Istanbul Modern was still just an idea, the family of Turkey’s world-renowned artist Fahrelnissa Zeid made a gift of her masterpiece ‘My Hell’ to the museum we dreamed of opening one day. The moment Istanbul Modern was founded, the first work to enter the museum was this one. With Zeid’s increased visibility in the global art world, we wanted to bring the artist’s works together again after 11 years and introduce them to new generations.”

Levent Çalıkoğlu: “Zeid’s position in the global art world is secured”

Noting that 2017 is the year of Zeid in the global art world, Istanbul Modern Director Levent Çalıkoğlu added: “Without a doubt Fahrelnissa Zeid’s life story, character and approach to art make her one of the most creative artists of her generation and epoch. The belated interest of Western museums and art community in Zeid’s person and works, which is clearly evident in this year’s international exhibition calendar, is restoring her the value she deserves. In particular, the retrospective that Tate Modern is organizing will secure Zeid’s position in the global art world. Since we have a comprehensive collection of Zeid’s work, we are also supporting this global interest with this selection.”

FAHRELNISSA ZEID (1901-1991)

Fahrelnissa Zeid was born on Büyükada in 1901 during the Ottoman era as the niece of Grand Vizier Cevat Paşa. She came from a large family of artists that included author Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı and painter Aliye Berger, her siblings. Her children from her marriage with author İzzet Melih Devrim were the painter Nejad Melih Devrim and the director and theater actress Şirin Devrim. Zeid was also the aunt of ceramic artist Füreya Koral.

One of the first female graduates of the Sanayi-i Nefise (Academy of Fine Arts), Fahrelnissa Zeid continued her studies in painting in the studio of Stalbach at the Académie Ranson in Paris, and later in the studio of Namık İsmail in Istanbul. In 1934, she married Prince Zeid, the ambassador of Iraq in Ankara, and became a princess. In 1942, she joined the Group D and took part in their exhibitions.

After her first solo exhibition held in her home in Maçka in 1944, Fahrelnissa Zeid had her works exhibited in Paris, London, New York, Brussels, and other cities where the couple lived after World War II. In 1976, Fahrelnissa Zeid moved permanently to Amman, where she established an institute of arts bearing her name and which she supported throughout her remaining years while continuing to produce art. She died in 1991 in Amman.

Known for her exuberant, powerful compositions, Fahrelnissa Zeid has a unique visual language so vivid and rich that it cannot be reduced to a single style. Her artistic practice can be classified under the following periods: an early period of figurative compositions with spaces constructed according to the style of miniatures; a period of maturity with geometrical and freely abstractionist works reminiscent of stained glass surfaces; and a late period consisting mainly of portraits in which psychological narrative comes to the fore.

ISTANBUL MODERN
www.instanbulmodern.org

Inci Eviner Retrospective @ Istanbul Modern, Turkey

Inci Eviner Retrospective
Who's Inside You?
Istanbul Modern
Through 23 octobre 2016

Istanbul Modern brings together İnci Eviner’s creative process from the 1980s to the present with the retrospective “Who’s Inside You?” The İnci Eviner Retrospective reflects the development and transformation of the artist’s rich search for expression, which extends from drawing, painting, and video to installation, photography, and sculpture.

İnci Eviner is a pioneering artist who has been influential in the transformation of contemporary art in Turkey. The exhibition “Who’s Inside You?” features works she has produced over the course of nearly forty years, providing a glance not only into her rich world of imagery, but also into the changing social and political realities of the times in which the works were produced.

Eviner has developed a unique mode of expression regarding womanhood, gender, and the politics of identity in their collective, political, and sociocultural aspects. The exhibition is not presented in a strictly chronological order, but rather interweaves past and present, and even incorporates the exhibition space itself.

The press conference held at Istanbul Modern on the occasion of the exhibition’s opening was attended by the artist İnci Eviner, Chair of the Board of Istanbul Modern Oya Eczacıbaşı, Chair of Ferko Ferit Meriçten, and Istanbul Modern Director Levent Çalıkoğlu, who is also the exhibition’s curator.

İnci Eviner: I designed the exhibition in an entirely open-plan setting

Indicating that the exhibition “Who’s Inside Me?” was conceivedas a unified, immersive installation, İnci Eviner said: “This exhibition enabled me to look back. Not only did it give me the opportunity to look from a certain distance at my own story in terms of how my identity as an artist became established, but it also revealed how all of the works are linked in certain ways. I designed the presentation in an entirely open-plan setting. I wanted to create a dynamic environment that would not be presented chronologically, but would bring back into circulation visual languages that reference one another, speak to one another, and are informed by the same past although they were articulated in different ways at different times.”

Noting that the works are marked by the passage of time, Eviner added that, because she wanted to restage her works, she arranged them as if she were creating a new piece. Eviner said: “We proceeded section by section, using the accompanying texts I wrote for the series that I had done until then, and worked up a design that allows viewers to perceive the entire area as a single picture from the moment they enter the exhibition space.”

Oya Eczacıbaşı: We want to enhance the visibility of women artists in Turkey

Chair of the Board of Istanbul Modern Oya Eczacıbaşı stated that the museum continues to hold exhibitions that highlight the pioneering and critical approaches of women artists to modern and contemporary art. Eczacıbaşı said: “We are pleased to host the exhibition ‘Who’s Inside You?,’ a comprehensive retrospective of İnci Eviner, one of Turkey’s leading contemporary artists. Istanbul Modern held its first retrospective of a woman artist in 2006, when ‘Two Generations of a Rainbow’ featured a vast range of work by Fahrelnissa Zeid, a pioneer of modern art in Turkey, and by her son Nejad Melih Devrim. Five years later, we organized ‘Dream and Reality,’ an exhibition examining Turkey’s social and cultural transformation from the beginning of its modernization process to the present through the works of women artists.”

Eczacıbaşı continued: “There are several reasons why we are excited to hold this retrospective of İnci Eviner. To begin with, it is our first retrospective of a living woman artist. We believe that this approach will have an influence on many aspects of Turkey’s artistic and cultural life. Also exciting is that this retrospective marks the start of the Women Artists Fund, a new Istanbul Modern initiative to increase the output of women in the field of contemporary art and enhance their visibility in Turkey and abroad. The Women Artists Fund brings together collectors and sponsors who are concerned about art and women’s issues, and dedicated to increasing the stature and visibility of women producing art and culture in Turkey. The initiative aims to promote living women artists by expanding Istanbul Modern’s collection of new works by women and supporting the projects of women whose works have been exhibited at our museum.”

Ferit Meriçten: We create living spaces that are long-lasting, like works of art

Chair of Ferko Ferit Meriçten called attention to the high-quality, exclusive projects they deliver in Turkey and abroad, and emphasized how sustainability affects all areas of human life. Meriçten said: “Ferko has been part of the business world for twenty-five years. We are here with you today thanks to our passion for art, which is ingrained in our corporate genes. As a brand that, while expanding its business, shows sensitivity to the dynamics of the environment in which we live, we are delighted to be involved with art. When designing buildings or spaces, Ferko strives to create living environments that are inspiring, add value to people’s lives, and are long-lasting like works of art. Like art masters, we dedicate meticulous care to every detail. The most important mission of our industry is to build livable cities and include all relevant aspects when developing living spaces, from architecture to cultural structure. It is of great value to us that we, as Ferko, operate from this perspective in every project we undertake. Embracing this awareness, Ferko will continue to support the arts in the future as it does today.”

Levent Çalıkoğlu: One of the most creative and contemporary artists of her generation

The exhibition’s curator, Istanbul Modern Director Levent Çalıkoğlu, stated that in terms of the diversity of her areas of interest and research, İnci Eviner is one of the most creative and contemporary artists of her generation. Çalıkoğlu added: “The exhibition brings together an inventory that spans close to forty years and reveals the rich and profound connections Eviner establishes both within herself and with the unity of art, culture, nature, and the unconscious that makes us human. In all of her works, Eviner transforms this unity and makes it her own through a unique repertoire of images that renders her presence distinctly visible. Like all great artists, she uses ‘potentials’ that at first glance are believed not to belong to the field of art and, through a natural touch, makes them her own. She thus enables us to think and interpret them from a new imaginative perspective.”

It all began with line and drawing

Drawing is central to Eviner’s works; she defines the starting point of her practice as expressions made through lines on paper. She constantly enriches her artistic approach, strolling through a boundless visual language ranging from art historical allegories, iconographies, illustrations, and mythologies to contemporary ideograms and pictograms.

Timeless works

Weaving together the violence at the heart of the beautiful, the potential of the repressed, and the unmatched creativity of the unconscious, Eviner’s works are simultaneously contemporary and timeless. The artist investigates the historical, discursive, and unconscious processes that influence our views of female identity starting in childhood. By defining womanhood as a field of limitless possibility that does not fit into a single image, the artist challenges the representational forms typically deemed appropriate for women and the restrictions that led to the emergence of these representations.

The retrospective "Who’s Inside You?” provides opportunities to see, for the first time ever, several works the artist created following her graduation from the Academy that could not be exhibited at the time due to physical and political conditions. Also featured in the exhibition are very recent works, produced this year.

Sponsored by Ferko, a firm notable for delivering quality and exclusive projects both in Turkey and abroad, the exhibition is on view in Istanbul Modern’s temporary exhibition hall through October 23, 2016.

About İnci Eviner

İnci Eviner has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions around the world as well as the biennials in Istanbul, Venice, Taiwan, Thessaloniki, Shanghai, andPusan. Her works have been shown at the Drawing Center, New York; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Vienna; the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; and Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille, France. Eviner was born in 1956 in Ankara and lives and works in Istanbul.

Exhibition catalogue

Published bilingually in Turkish and English, the exhibition catalogue includes texts about and images of the works in the exhibition, an essay by Levent Çalıkoğlu on the conceptual framework of the exhibition, Sara Raza’s essay “İnci Eviner: On the Practice and Performance of Drawing,” and Rana Öztürk’s interview with the artist entitled “Choreography of Flowing Images.”

In addition to the exhibition catalogue, the Istanbul Modern Store also features a selection of designers’ products.

ISTANBUL MODERN
www.istanbulmodern.org

Video Art Exhibition – Istanbul Modern

Nothing Lasts Forever

Video Art Exhibition

ISTANBUL MODERN

Feburary 1 - May 12, 2006

Nothing Lasts Forever, the 3rd Video Programme at Istanbul Modern presents a selectiorı of significant works by Hussein Chalayan (Turkey), Fischli & Weiss (Switzerland) and Sam Taylor-Wood (Great Britain). These art works are relevant examples of how photography, cinema and video are inexcusable seed-beds for shaping our contemporary iconosphere. Such media have forged their artistic identity reworking representational techniques derived from previous creative traditions. Pictorial composition, theatrical stage sets and the fabling function of the novel are thus updated and transformed to shape our new visual and narrative models. Placing the accent on time and duration, the selected video works heighten out awareness of the fleetingness of time and the lack of eternal truths. They also evince the disappearance of boundaries between artistic disciplines such as painting, sculpture and fashion, and prove how art is able to embody the interactions between different fields of knowledge. 

HUSSEIN CHALAYAN

Hussein Chalayan (Cyprus, b. 1970) links fashion and performance to explore the politics of beauty in relation to the conflicts of his time. 

"Aeroplane Dress" (1999) is a video in which a fashion model directs her gaze at the spectator while different elements of her white metallic dress open up as if she is about to depart creating a powerful image of travelling bodies. "Afterwords" (2000) refers to the painful situation of having to flee your home at a time of war and having to conceal your most treasured possessions; as the artist says, "I wanted to somehow turn a horrific situation into something more poetic." 

FISCHLI & WEISS

The Swiss duo, Peter Fischli (Zurich, b. 1952) and David Weiss, (Zurich, b. 1945), has been working together since 1979 in the field s of sculpture, installation, film and photography. Their work, which is humorous, emotional and deeply metaphysical, explores the relationships between order and chaos, the everyday and the sublime, arousing a feeling of fascination in the spectator, who is invited to discover "the small miracles in everyday life". 

"The Way Things Go" (1987) is a film on a 100-foot long kinetic structure with everyday objects such as old tires, bottles, ladders and even soapsuds that were joined together. When the sculpture was set in motion, a controlled and surprising chain of reactions started creating an amusing happening, The work plays with the laws of physics and chemistry, deals with inevitability and chance and discovers the cosmic magic of a universe in precarious circumstances. 

"Büsy (Kitty)" (2001) presents a cat drinking milk in a dish. The work is a proposal for us to slow down and see how nice it is to just contemplate everyday life. There is a moment of marvel and peace in the fact that nothing or almost nothing is happening and no one is explaining anything. 

SAM TAYLOR-WOOD

Born in London in 1967 and trained as a sculptor at Goldsmiths College, Sam Taylor-Wood asserts that photo and video were a natural development in her research. Her work relates to human vulnerability and contemporary ennui. Many of her pieces are like tableaux vivants where the camel a has a fixed viewpoint and things take place within a unique frame. 

'Still Life" (2001) presents a classic and iconic arrangement of fruit that recalls a painting by Caravaggio or Zurbaran. The pieces of fruit, filmed in time-lapse at very high speed. blossom with mould before putrefying completely and turning into dust in front of viewers' very eyes. This accelerated process reveals the beauty of decay and its surprising and astonishing vitality. 

A Little Death" (2002) is a living composition arranged to appear as a seventeenth-century painting. The body of a dead hare hangs from its leg nailed to the wall, its head resting on a table beside a rosy peach. As the body of the hare begins to rat the animal seems to come alive again thanks to the unremitting movement of the maggots suggesting that life steams out of death. This piece was shot over nine weeks and one of its most intriguing aspects -the resolutely unaffected peach- was in fact an unforeseen accident: an out-of-season fruit that remained whole amidst its surrounding putrefaction.

This video art exhibition was curated by Rosa Martínez

With the Contribution of Caylon - Credit Agricole Group

Video Art Exhibition – Istanbul Modern

The selection of video art works by Rivane Neuenschwander (Brazil), Jacco Olivier (The Netherlands) and Jennifer Steinkamp (USA) shows how some contemporary artists use new technologies to bring painting beyond its classical limits. Thanks to the wide possibilities of projections and computer animations, the traditional genres of landscape and portrait gain movement and change shape, perspective or colour. Through the interaction with sound and architecture, painting abandons its static character, expands from the bounds of the canvas and explores new conceptual and aesthetical territories. 

JACCO OLIVIER (Goes, The Netherlands, b. 1972)

Jacco Olivier has recently created a series of “Moving Pictures” that bring the classical horizons of painting into new areas of technical development and visual pleasure. Jacco Olivier departs from modern painting and he creates a series of pictures with abstract or figurative landscapes. He photographs and films these fragments to produce vivid and poetic animations. Landscapes and human figures become abstract compositions while abstract forms become suddenly figures and real things. These visual narratives are humorous and casual reflections on our world. Their meaning is enhanced by the interconnection of the images and the sound tracks. 

JENNIFER STEINKAMP (Denver, USA, b. 1958)

Jennifer Steinkamp uses computer animation to create virtual forms that provoke new perceptions of the architectural spaces where they are projected. Eye Catching 5 shows the image of a young tree in motion. The foliage, the branches and the trunk bow down, stretch up and rotate smoothly. This image belongs to a series of trees that were specifically created for the Yerebatan Cistern in 2003 during the 8th International Istanbul Biennial. Creating simulated images of fake natural elements and exploring the notions of gravity, turbulence and wind, Steinkamp provides a fascinating and non-narrative visual experience. Her projections bring painting beyond its classical limits. She reinvents the forms of nature, dematerialises the space and produces complex interactions between the viewer and the artwork. 

RIVANE NEUENSCHWANDER (Belo Horizonte, Brazil, b. 1967)

The artist Rivane Neuenschwander connects science and language in order to reinscribe culture into nature. Love Lettering is a video made with her brother, a neuroscientist at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt. Words taken from love letters were cut out and attached to the tails of red-orange fish in an aquarium. The trajectories of the undulating fish compose disconnected or intensified combinations of meanings: “Late – wish – hotel”… “your - talking", and so on. This film includes the perspective of two readers: the real, intended recipient of the original letter and the viewer who sees it recomposed by chance. Combining formal systems with organic forces, Rivane Neuenschwander proposes a new balance between art and nature... Her art suggests that destiny can be changed by interfering through simple means, like writing or tearing a love letter, with the flow of what seems predetermined.

This video art exhibition was curated by Rosa Martinez.

ISTANBUL MODERN
16 April - 25 August 2005