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© Ardan Özmenoğlu, 2011
Very Contemporary! A solo exhibition by Ardan Özmenoğlu
Curated by Katerina
Valdivia Bruch
If
I have to talk about the work of Ardan Özmenoğlu, I will need to go
back in time and check what has been happening in the formation of
Turkey since the Otoman Empire until today. A lot has been changed
during that time towards the development of the Turkish nation and I am
not able to summarize it in this paper. What I am able to do is to
connect Ardan´s work in relation to Turkish contemporary art.
For this exhibition, the artist recreates in silk screen prints
historical images of sultans, undercovered behind x-rays. We might not
be able to see the sultan, but we know that the image depicts one.
Commonly used in medicine for research and diagnostics, the x-rays are
literally 'scanning' the sultans to see what is behind in the interior
of their bodies. X-rays make people look the same, thus we all become
anonymous. What happens today if we put a big head-dress on our head?
Do we also become a sultan? This question remains open as dresses do
not necessarily make people play a major role in society.
Another silk screen print shows a portait of the first president of
Turkey and popular icon Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, with an enlarged
background inscription Don´t forget me,
formerly Atatürk´s hand-written phrase. Best known for his efforts
towards the modernisation of Turkey as a democratic and secular
nation-state, Atatürk was aware of the importance of literacy and
education for all Turkish inhabitants. During his administration, he
introduced the new Turkish Latin based alphabet that replaced the
Arabic script. He was influenced by Dewey´s teaching methods and gave
more space to women in public matters, such as politics and education.
As a result of secularisation, he abolished the use of the veil. He was
also influencing the arts scene by creating in 1927 the first state art
and sculpture museum, against Muslim tradition of avioding idolatry,
but corresponding to his idea of a secular state. Atatürk considered
that art production, either traditional or modern creations, belong to
the Turkish heritage and therefore had to be shown. Ardan reminds us of
his achievements that are related to her own body of work. The artist
studied at the Bilkent University in Ankara, got an English and Turkish
diploma, that she is selling to the public as a result of her own
survey about the state of contemporary art in Turkey. She does not need
a diploma to become an artist, as the artist resides inside her. She
prefers to work with prints and installations, rather than doing
paintings.
Ardan moves out from the institutional work as a graduated artist, does
street walks and observes a space full of meanings. She takes phrases
written on walls, such as God knows, or phrases on crinkled papers posted on doors with adhesive foil that tell us to wait, I went to Friday pray, I will come back soon, or a simple phrase such as Do not put trash here.
These phrases remind us of a social behaviour, of a living city with a
religion and certain civic manners, that the artist recovers and writes
on neon light tubes to express the importance of common life and of
personal beliefs. But, what is contemporary here? The fact that
painting and sculpture are still playing a major role in contemporary
art in Turkey makes Ardan think about institutions and how art is being
taught. The works Oil on canvas and Ink on paper
are the clues to understand this exhibition. These two works are making
a parody of the tradition of teaching art techniques in university: the
artist literally exhibits oil on canvas and ink on paper, and that
conceptualisation of the method is what we might call Very Contemporary!
Opening: April 7th, 2011 at 7 pm
Exhibition: April 8th – May 4th, 2011
The exhibition has been produced and conceptualised in Berlin, for
which the artist worked at the silk screen print studio at Bethanien, in close
collaboration with the curator Katerina Valdivia Bruch.
Address:
Macka Modern Art Gallery
Macka Caddesi 24/1
Tesvikiye, Istanbul
Turkey
[English PDF]
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