The group show titled Fool’s Paradise is opening on the 16th of October. Conceived by Merve Çağlar, the exhibition that brings together works by Murat Akagündüz, Nevin Aladağ, Banu Cennetoğlu, Taner Ceylan, Cevdet Erek, Ahmet Doğu İpek, Ali Kazma, Füsun Onur and Canan Tolon can be visited until the 28th of November 2020.
“Days have been all but the same lately. One day after another. Sunrise, sunset, sunrise, sunset... Flowing in a somber rhythm. It is hard to distinguish one day from the other. The future is out of focus. Going round and round in a vicious circle on the verge of heaven and lunacy.
Disguising yourself in someone else. Wanting too much and wanting it all, now. A tainted definition of success. Flying too close to the sun. Gluttony. Our ambitions have resulted in a prodigious waste of resources. Can you hear the bells ringing? Preparing for doomsday. Can you ever be ready? The world is melting away along with the promise of prosperity.
Keeping yourself busy. Working with your hands will restore autonomy. To tie one knot after another. Repeat. Weaving an unconscious pattern, only to reveal your deepest fears and anxieties. Tied down and tied up. Worried that the knots are the only thing holding you together. Will you disintegrate if you loosen up?”
“Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
T.S Eliot
Conceived by: Merve Çağlar
Special thanks to Nazım Dikbaş for the translation, Bilal Yılmaz for the production support of Nevin Aladağ’s work, Elif Uras for lending Taner Ceylan’s work, Şerifcan Özcan for graphic design, Samsung for the television and Tepta for the lighting.
Ali Kazma (1971, Istanbul) completed his BA at the University of Colorado Boulder and received his MA from The New School University in New York City. The artist, who represented Turkey at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013, had a comprehensive solo show at Jeu de Paume, Paris in 2017. Ali Kazma’s solo shows took place in museums and galleries including Galeri Nev İstanbul, Analix Forever (Geneva), Albergo Diurno Venezia (Milan), MUNTREF (Buenos Aires), ARTER (Istanbul), CAPRI (Düsseldorf), Hirshhorn Museum (Washington). Group shows and biennials include the 6th Kuandu Biennale (Taipei), 7th Moscow International Biennale of Contemporary Art, MAXXI (Rome), Musée d’Art Contemporaine de Lyon, 30th Sao Paulo Biennial, Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul Modern and New Museum (New York). He received the UNESCO Prize for Promotion in the Arts in 2001 and the Nam June Paik Award in 2010. The artist’s works are included in a large number of international collections.
Ahmet Doğu İpek (1983, Adıyaman). The artist, who had his solo exhibition at Galeri Nev Istanbul in 2019, also had a comprehensive solo show at the Galata Greek School in 2017. In 2018, Ipek was invited to the residency program, Cité des Arts in Paris, where he spent 6 months working. Ipek’s artist book, consisting of 89 works each representing one day from the “Days” series was published in 2018 with the support of SAHA Association. His group exhibitions include ARTER (Istanbul), Abdülmecid Efendi Köşkü (Istanbul), OMM (Eskişehir), Neues Museum (Nürnberg), ArtScience Museum (Singapore), Müze Evliyagil (Ankara), Venue68 (Vienna) and Baksı Museum (Bayburt).
Canan Tolon (1955, Istanbul) studied interior architecture in Edinburgh and Germany. She completed her masters in architecture at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) in 1983. Tolon’s monographic survey exhibition documenting her production since 1989 took place at Istanbul Modern in 2019. Her extensive solo show was held at Parasol-unit, London in 2014. Tolon’s other solo shows include art spaces including Galeri Nev Istanbul, Gallery Paule Anglim (California), San Francisco Modern Museum of Art (California), Borusan Art Gallery (Istanbul), group shows include Lesher Center for the Arts (California), Pera Museum (Istanbul), British Museum (London), Kiev Biennial, National Museum of Women in the Arts (Washington). Her awards include the Emeryville Public Arts Award and San Francisco Focus Design Awards.
Füsun Onur (1938, Istanbul). After graduating from Uskudar American Academy for Girls in 1956, Füsun Onur started studying Sculpture in the Academy of Fine Arts and became a student at Hadi Bara Atelier. Onur continued her education at the Maryland College of Art with a Fulbright scholarship in 1960 and graduated from the department of Sculpture. The artist held her first solo exhibition at Taksim Art Gallery in 1970, followed by her exhibitions in a number of art spaces including Academy of Fine Arts, the 1st, 4th, 12th and 14th Istanbul Biennials, Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM), Istanbul Painting and Sculpture Museum, Maçka Art Gallery (Istanbul), Staatliche Kunsthalle (Baden Baden), Brussels Botanical Gardens (Belgium), Lund Konsthall (Sweden). Onur was invited to dOCUMENTA in 2012. Her extensive solo show curated by Emre Baykal, “Through the Looking Glass” took place at Arter in 2014. The artist has participated in numerous international exhibitions internationally including art spaces in Sweden, Macedonia, Netherlands, France, Germany. Her works are included in international museum collections.
Cevdet Erek (1974, Istanbul) studied Architecture at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. He worked in various architectural offices after his graduation and started working with the music band Nekropsi. After studying Sound Engineering and Design at Dr. Erol Üçer Center for Advanced Studies in Music (MIAM), ITU, he went to Rijksakademie, Amsterdam as a guest artist. His installations and performances took place in institutions and international exhibitions such as dOCUMENTA (Kassel), Istanbul Biennial, Sydney Biennale, Sharjah Biennale, Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam), MAXXI (Rome), Tate Modern (London), Istanbul Modern, ARTER (Istanbul), SALT (Istanbul). The artist whose solo shows include M HKA (Antwerp), MUAC (Mexico), Kunsthalle Basel, MaerzMusik (Berlin), Spike Island (Bristol), Künstlerhaus Stuttgart, Hamburger Bahnhof (Berlin) and ARTER (Istanbul), represented Turkey at the Venice Biennial in 2017 with his solo show. He received the Nam June Paik Media Prize in 2012. Erek also gives lectures on Music Technologies at ITU MIAM where he works as an Associate Professor.
Nevin Aladağ (1972, Van) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich. Her solo shows include San Francisco MoMA, Hayward Gallery (London) Museum Mönchehaus (Goslar), Kestner Gessellschaft (Hannover), Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz (Austria), ARTER, Tanas (Berlin), group shows and biennials include institutions such as Martin-Gropius-Bau (Berlin), Schirn Kunsthalle (Frankfurt), High Line (New York), Kemper Museum of Contemporary art (Kansas City, Missouri), Open Spaces 2018 (Kansas City, Missouri), dOCUMENTA (Kassel & Athens), 57th Venice Biennale, 11th Sharjah Biennial, 11th Istanbul Biennial, 8th Taipei Biennial and XIV Biennale Internazionale di Scultura di Carrara. The artist lives and works in Berlin.
Banu Cennetoğlu (1970, Ankara) graduated from Boğaziçi University Psychology Department and continued her studies at Speos, Paris Photographic Institute and Rijksakademie Amsterdam. Solo exhibitions include institutions such as K21 Ständehaus (Düsseldorf), Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen (Düsseldorf), Sculpture Center (New York), Chisenhale Gallery (London), Bonner Kunstverein (Bonn), Salonul de proiecte (Bucharest), Kunsthalle Basel. Selected group exhibitions include Kunsthalle Wien (Vienna), Bergen Assembly 2019, Depo (Istanbul), 10th Liverpool Biennale, dOCUMENTA 14 (Athens and Kassel), Hammer Museum (Los Angeles), 10th Gwangju Biennale, ARTER (Istanbul), Manifesta 8 (Murcia), 53rd Venice Biennale/Pavilion of Turkey; 5th and 3rd Berlin Biennale, 1st Athens Biennale and 10th Istanbul Biennial. In 2006 she initiated BAS, a project space in Istanbul focusing on collection and production of artists’ books and printed matter. In 2016 she was a guest at the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program. Cennetoğlu is currently an advisor at the Rijksakademie, Amsterdam.
Murat Akagündüz (1970, İzmit) graduated from Mimar Sinan Faculty of Fine Arts, Painting Department in 1995 and continued his postgraduate studies. The artist who worked in the field of fresco and litography during his university years has been among the founders of the Hafriyat Group between 1995 and 2010. Solo shows include institutions such as ARTER (Istanbul), Galeri Mâna (Istanbul), OKK Gallery (Berlin), Galeri Nev (Ankara), Evin Art Gallery (Istanbul), İş Bankası Art Gallery (Istanbul), Ekol Art Gallery (Istanbul) and group shows include; Diyarbakır Art Centre, Rathause Gallery (Munich), Hafriyat Group Show (Istanbul), Ataturk Cultural Center (AKM) and Galerist (Istanbul).
Taner Ceylan (1967, Germany), graduated from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in 1991. That same year, Ceylan presented his first group show and first solo exhibition in Nuremberg, Germany. His seminal exhibition and performance “Monte Carlo Style”, debuted in 1995, making a significant impact on the Turkish art scene. Ceylan worked as a lecturer at the Fine Arts Faculty of Yeditepe University (2001-2003) and was editor in chief of Time Out Istanbul’s art section (2001-2006). His international exhibitions and biennials include; the International Istanbul Biennial (8th, 9th, 14th), Contemporary Art Center (New Orleans), Paul Kasmin Gallery (New York), Martin-Gropius-Bau (Berlin), Museum Bojman Van Beuningen (Rotterdam), Brattleboro Museum and Art Center (Vermont), Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea (Torino), Church of San Domenico (Alba, Torino) and The Piedmont Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale, curated by Marianna Vecellio-Concept by Carolyn Christov Bakargiev in Combo Venice, and Kistefos Museum (Norway).
