translated and summarized by: Liz Wollner-Grandville,
030510: Istanbul Museum of Modern Art - Time Within Us.
Istanbul Museum of Modern Art
Time Within Us.
Photographers from Turkey, Russia and Greece
27.01.10 – 16.05.10
Ponder, look back, disappear
Tolga Özgal’s photos depict what one would consider a real jamboree: a suburban Turkish wedding: all guests having a great time, spurred on by a cheerful solo entertainer, surrounded by an unbelievable number of sugar-coated cakes all waiting to be devoured and, when the party is over, the bride and her groom leave the festivity with money bills attached to their shoulders by their guests. It’s the humbleness of the people shown on Özgal black-and-white photo series that makes these photographs so delightful: it proves that parying and exuberance is not a privilege reserved for the wealthy.
The general undertone of the exhibition “Time Within Us” is much quieter than that in Özgal’s lively and cheerful wedding photos. The displayed works show young Muscovite immigrants on balconies or sitting near windows, wrapped in blankets, pondering about the advantages and disadvantages of their new home; or two boys gazing towards the sea in Yusuf Sevincli’s series “Home”; or Christina Dimitriadis posing transparent as a ghost in apartments and houses, in which she or her parents and grandparents live. Reflectiveness is the main theme - even in Deniz Acikalin’s night photos – portraits, immersed in blaring red and green traffic lights. Tim Parshikov staged lonely people in rather squalid rooms, and in Panos Kokkinias’s anonymous public settings, people almost disappear as insignificant extras.
Normally, it is advisable to be cautious if an exhibition gathers art from certain regions, without setting an explicit basis. But here the curators (Engin Özendes, Olga Sviblova, Vangelis Ioakimidis) found “dreaming”, “remembering”, and “observing” as meaningful parameters. Thus, the exhibition avoids the danger of being arbitrary; the atmosphere mediated by the show is subdued. In short: a harmonious event.
By Nina Schedlmayer
Istanbul Museum of Modern Art
34433 Istanbul, Meclic-i Mebusan Ave. Liman Isletmeleri Sahasi Antrepo No: 4 Karaköy
Tel: +90 (0) 212 334 73 00
Fax: +90 (0) 212 243 43 19
email: info@istanbulmodern.org
http://istanbulmodern.org
Mehr Texte von translated and summarized by: Liz Wollner-Grandville
030510
Istanbul Museum of Modern Art
34433 Instanbul, Meclis-i Mebusan Ave. Liman Isletmeleri Sahasi Antrepo No:4 Karaköy
Tel: +90 212 334 73 00, Fax: 0 212 243 43 19
Email: info@istanbulmodern.org
http://www.istanbulmodern.org/
Istanbul Museum of Modern Art
34433 Instanbul, Meclis-i Mebusan Ave. Liman Isletmeleri Sahasi Antrepo No:4 Karaköy
Tel: +90 212 334 73 00, Fax: 0 212 243 43 19
Email: info@istanbulmodern.org
http://www.istanbulmodern.org/