Tanas

Turkish Art New And Superb

23 May - 28 Jul 2012

TURKISH ART NEW AND SUPERB
23 May - 28 July 2012

Participating artists:
Mehtap Baydu, Bashir Borlakov, Banu Cennetoğlu, Aslı Çavuşoğlu, Cevdet Erek, Ha Za Vu Zu, Nuri Kuzucan, Ali Miharbi, Yasemin Özcan, Serkan Özkaya, Güneş Terkol, Vahit Tuna, Shiri Zinn

With this group exhibition showing works by thirteen contemporary artists, most of whom were born in Turkey in the 1970s and now live in Istanbul, René Block, the show's initiator, wants to have a "fresh southern breeze" wafting through the months of documenta and Berlin Biennale. The concept here does not even attempt to belabor typical clichés of "easily palatable" Turkish art. Rather, Block and his co-curator Ece Pazarbaşı from Istanbul have made a very conscientious selection of artists and works that clearly stake their own ground. These challenging artists direct their critical gaze at all aspects of daily life: at society, politics, history, and culture and their inherent antagonisms and interconnections.
National attributions and features of identity are in no way denied; instead, the show demonstrates that the newly flourishing art scene in Turkey has no longer been concentrating solely on traditional patterns. Cevdet Erek, Ha Za Vu Zu, Nuri Kuzucan, Ali Miharbi and Serkan Özkaya interpret everyday urban life, enriching it with personal elements. Banu Cennetoğlu's collaborations with Yasemin Özcan and Shiri Zinn focus on institutional critique. Güneş Terkol's work develops new aesthetic modes outside the customary art context. Her contribution to the exhibition was created with women from Berlin in a workshop at Ballhaus Naunynstraße. Vahit Tuna and Aslı Çavuşoğlu playfully criticize politics and social history. Bashir Borlakov creates photographic tableaux with historical citations and visual elements from dream scenarios.

Please note the following two venues in addition to TANAS:
At gelbe MUSIK, Schaperstraße 11, Berlin-Schöneberg, an acoustic work by Aslı Çavuşoğlu will be presented. Opening: Tuesday, 22 May, 5 to 7 p.m.

On the grounds of the former Tempelhof airport, the artists group Ha Za Vu Zu has already been working for some time on My Ass in the Googlearth, a large-scale "turf tattoo" of an airplane on the former airfield.
 

Tags: René Block, Asli Cavusoglu, Banu Cennetoglu, Cevdet Erek, Serkan Özkaya