Upcoming – Merdiven Art Space

15.04.2021 – 30.04.2021

Merdiven Art Space, one of the most outstanding non-profit spaces for contemporary art in Istanbul, is delighted to present Ferhat Özgür’s solo video screening show entitled “About Turkish Reality” which will take place between 15-30 April 2021 within the framework of the comprehensive video festival “SENKRON” across Turkey.

The video screening will bring together selected works by Özgür whose artistic practice is invariably based on politically critical issues, such as identity, migration, nationalism, anti-militarism, cultural differences and otherness dilemmas, which the artist has been dealing with for almost two decades, particularly in Turkey. The artist, whose works focus on both fictional realities and recorded observations, offers us to reconsider the power of personal involvement in creating video grammar.

According to Özgür, the camera is a device that opens a window to the opportunity for storytelling, documentation, commentary, whatever the possessor wishes. It supports us to create our own visual experiences. It is an alternative expression which enables us to analyse the relationship between simple life and documentary representation.

Through his camera Özgür tries to grip and evaluate the reality, through accumulated images or visual encyclopedias. Believing in the ambivalence of the images, Özgür always showcases the limitations of reflecting the reality of video art as a perception where personal interpretation is embedded.

Throughout the loop, selected videos will be screened retrospectively: “The Wall” (22 min., 2020), “He is in The Army Now” (15 min., 2016), “Women in Love” (11.50 min., 2013), “Metamorphosis Chat” (9.50 min., 2009).

About the artist: Ferhat Özgür lives and works in Istanbul. Taking part in 10th Istanbul Biennale, 6th Berlin Biennale and 9th Busan Biennale, Özgür works have been shown in numerous international institutions including MoMA PS1, Michigan University Museum of Art, Pompidou Center-Paris, Marabouparken-Stockholm, IMMA-Dublin, MUMOK-Vienna, Moderna Musset-Malmö, Salzburg Modern and Seul Museum of Modern Art etc.

MURAT GERMEN | STAIRWAY: STEP BY STEP

06.11.2019 – 14.12.2019

Merdiven Art Space celebrates its second anniversary with Murat Germen’s solo exhibition. Germen, known with the works which focus on concepts such as possession/dispossession, overurbanisation, participatory citizenship, the devastation of nature, climate change and global warming; and where he uses photography as a tool for expressing and research, this time presents his installation specially conceived for Merdiven Art Space. The exhibition with the title “Stairway: Step by Step”, which refers to both the location of the space in the public sphere and its name, brings the abstract and concrete functions of stairs into the question.

The artist underlining how the stairs, functional structures which are hard to climb up and easy to go down, differ from the processes of resting, sitting, giving break and thinking; questions the relative meaning of the concepts of up and down. The exhibition, aiming to evoke potential connotations regarding daily life that the human mind-which is busy with only going up and down-is not capable enough, reveals a surreal environment where the spectators can directly come across with themselves. Murat Germen instrumentalizes the installation, which is supported with his signature photographic elements, with whom the spectators can question the boundaries of their own will, by going up, down, and waiting in the realm of aimlessness. Germen, referring to the fact that the quality and quantity of the steps taken to reach a spot are determined by others, conceptualizes and shares the observations he has made as a result of his relationship with the architecture. The artist who reconceives the balance between free will, aim and the road, creates an experimental space to grasp the concept of stairs which are to be climbed up on the road to be set off formally and contextually, evaluate them, and question the stereotyped discourses about up and down. As a result, the spectators are to face their highs and elevators while climbing up these symbolic stairs step by step.