Sep 13 2019

Roundup from Contemporary Istanbul 2019

by Lesley Ann Gray

Contemporary Istanbul 2019 included a sector called Plugin. Among the projects there was The Skin (2019), an immersive video installation that melded live-generated electronic sound and scrolling video, by Turkish artist RESOLE.

Artists, curators, gallerists, and other cultural workers flocked to Istanbul for a slew of events in the city, including the opening of the 16th Istanbul Biennial on September 14, the September 13 relaunch of nonprofit platform Arter in its new 17,000-square-meter home, a flurry of gallery openings, and the 14th edition of Contemporary Istanbul (CI) art fair (September 12–15). Newly elected mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu—who has inspired renewed hope among local creatives and businessmen—visited the fair on September 12, and discussed his plans to put arts and culture at the forefront of Istanbul’s development. There is much to anticipate, with nine museums and an opera house scheduled to open over the next three years.

According to CI chairperson Ali Güreli, the fair will continue its efforts in growing a local and international collector base for Turkish and international artists, in parallel with the city’s push to become a key hub for contemporary and modern art in the Mediterranean region. Turkish soft power was already in high gear at this year’s edition of CI. Under new artistic director Anissa Touati, the fair expanded its geographic inclusivity, welcoming special projects from Azerbaijan, France, Georgia, Malta, and elsewhere. The main galleries sector featured 74 participants from 23 countries, including 23 galleries who showed at CI for the first time. The fair also presented a sculpture garden; a talks program; the 7th edition of Plugin, a sector focused on digital and new media art; and an extensive exhibition curated by CI executive committee member Hasan Bülent Kahraman, dedicated to recent acquisitions by some of Turkey’s most prominent collectors. Galleries reported strong sales on the first day. Here are some highlights.

A fixture of Istanbul’s art scene for 21 years, Pi Artworks (Istanbul / London) brought a mixed-media piece by local artist GÜLAY SEMERCIOĞLU. Titled Mediterranean (2019), the work is inspired by Izmir tilework and Seljuk motifs.

Detail of GÜLAY SEMERCIOĞLU’s Mediterranean (2019).

At the booth of Anna Laudel (Istanbul), which primarily represents emerging Turkish artists, was Vaat Edilen (2019) by TUĞÇE DIRI, who trained in traditional calligraphy and uses the same techniques to create the repetitive marks in his mixed-media-on-canvas works.

As part of CI’s focus on Turkey’s Mediterranean neighbors, there was strong engagement with European galleries at this year’s fair. Among them, first-time participants High Art (Paris) brought painter ORION MARTIN’s Nombreflad Nigh (2017).

X-ist Gallery (Istanbul) presented a dynamic booth spotlighting 13 artists, including BURÇIN BAŞIN, who explores ideas of displacement and gaps in personal histories. Pictured: Başin’s Space Between Us I and II (both 2019).

The booth of Versus Art Project (Istanbul) featured artists who interrogate the spatial politics of Istanbul’s rapid development. For example, GÖKHAN BALKAN layers transfer prints of photos to critique Istanbul’s current building frenzy.

This is the fourth year that Mohsen Gallery (Tehran) has participated in CI. Tackling social and political themes such as militarism and labor, the gallery brought works by four artists, including AMIR-HOSSEIN ZANJANI’s French Kiss (2017, left), and series of portraits (center), as well as portraits from SEYED MOHAMAD MOSAVAT’s Sorrow series (2016, right).

Now in their 14th year of participation at CI, AB Gallery (Seoul) showed vibrant, pop-inspired artworks by ten artists, such as the bright, pigment-saturated paintings by NANCY LANG and delicate ceramics by JEAMIN SEUNG.

Presented as part of Plugin was Azerbaijani artist FARHAD FARZALIYEV’s five-channel audio installation, Turandot (2019). The work narrates the story of Giacomo Puccini’s heroine Turandot, the star of the opera of the same name, who was in turn based on a princess in the epic poem Seven Beauties, penned by 12th-century Persian writer Nizami Ganjavi. Visitors wandered through the booth, picking up overlapping radio signals from hidden transmitters that merged opera, electronic music, and poetry recitation.

The exhibition of works recently acquired by 42 of Turkey’s prominent collectors showed the breadth of collecting practices in the country, and will be turned into a book.

Contemporary Istanbul 2019 is on view until September 15 at the Istanbul Congress Center.

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