Fırat Engin's Artist Book and Exhibition Titled "Overcoming Distance" Met the Audience at Merdiven Art Space
Merdiven Art Space presents Fırat Engin: Bridging the Distance, a publication accompanying the artist’s eponymous exhibition held between 4–30 November 2023.
Edited and authored by Derya Yücel and designed by Vahit Tuna, Bridging the Distance: Fırat Engin offers an in-depth reflection on the intersections between art and life through the lens of Engin’s artistic journey. Shaped around the dynamics of memory and recollection, the book explores the artist’s practice by weaving together themes, contexts, and materials—suggesting a reading experience that mirrors processes of remembering and contemplation.
Rather than adopting a strictly chronological narrative, the book maps an interrelational memory across Engin’s practice, engaging with works under overarching themes such as memory and identity, social justice and urgencies, political economy, and global incursions.
The accompanying exhibition, Bridging the Distance, showcases a selection of Engin’s works produced over the past two decades—many of which are held in private and public collections. Featuring works such as Purification (2011), In Memory of Gregor Samsa (2010), Motherland (2017), Ghosts of the Millennium (2021), and 2 onions, 1 bread, 1 fake Hermès (2021), the exhibition brings together pieces conceived in a wide range of materials and techniques.
Fırat Engin’s practice draws on a multidisciplinary approach, expanding the possibilities of sculptural language through installation, video, neon, and more. His choice of material and medium is closely tied to the sociopolitical contexts of his subject matter. Engin’s work interrogates intersections between popular culture, everyday life, consumption, and both national and global politics—seeking to conceptualize these themes through the interplay of form and content.
Bridging the Distance was on view at Merdiven Art Space from 4 to 30 November 2023.
