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La Biennale di Venezia
50th
INTERNATIONAL ART EXHIBITION
Open
until November 2003
THE PAVILION
OF TURKEY
(ARSENALE)
IN
LIMBO
Artists:
Nuri
Bilge Ceylan
Ergin
Çavusoglu
Gül Ilgaz
Neriman Polat
Nazif Topçuoglu
Curator/Comissar:
Beral Madra
Under
the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry
of Culture and Tourism
The
sponsor of the Pavilion of Turkey is TOFAŞ AŞ.
At the 50th Biennale di Venezia,
Turkey presents five artists (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Ergin Çavuşoğlu,
Gül Ilgaz, Neriman Polat, Nazif Topçuoğlu) of the current mercurial art scene of Istanbul
in an exhibition entitled "In Limbo", curated by Beral Madra.
The title "In Limbo" is a reference to the producer of the dreams, the artist and to the anonymous,
yet omnipotent viewer, as described in the concept of F. Bonami. It also points to the art appreciation in general, at the moment
of encounter with the artwork or within the different
layers/ hierarchies of the art system. In the current
global political and cultural scene, dreams of the viewer
and of the artists are intersecting in a circuit of visual
and conceptual crisis, not only owing to "globalisation",
but also to ongoing conflicts and their transmission through
the electronic media. Yet, in paradox, the conflict is
not breeding
itself in the field of art but on the everyday life of
the viewer and the artist.
The concept, "limbo", which means a region on the border of hell,
a place of souls which do not go to heaven or hell, a
state of neglects, oblivion and complication clearly defines
the currently experienced "warscape". Within
this "warscape" and the supremacy of the corporate
economy and global politics, the everyday life of the artist and the viewer makes all the difference
in art. The artist, aware of the eminence of it, approaches
these twenty-four hours in detail, itemises and particularises
the facts with his/her inevitable sophistication and self-contempt.
Whoever gives him the right to intervene into the minute
details of the common life, and the authority to cry out
his message to the world from a headland, also consumes
it with the same empathy or apathy.
ARTISTS
Nuri Bilge Ceylan's films guide the viewer throughout the everyday life and psychology of
the small town individual, but disclose the social conflicts
of a population entrapped in phases of transition between
past and present. Cocoon is an excerpt or citation, related to his concept of his past and recent
films and gives a perspective into the land as the background
of the global city, as the source of psychology of the
current city-individual. Ergin Çavuşoğlu's current artwork
consists of photography and video. Through the images,
personal and cultural identities are negotiated and located
in urban everyday life. The excessive use of the voyeuristic
character of the camera highlights the ambiguous behaviour of
individuals in their street existence. Gül
Ilgaz’s photography work is largely authobiographical, yet
it also offers the viewer a key to open a discussion on
common everyday realities and the ambiguity of representation.
She juxtaposes illusion and reality, subjective and objective,
individual and social to give the viewer an opportunity
to exercise his/her perceptive skills. Neriman Polat's vocabulary with photography and video is lucid,
calm and substantive. Itemisation, classification and
arrangement of the facts and events she is observing and
inquiring is ironic and amusing. In her present digital
photography she displays a "warscape" within
an orientalistic landscape, both constructed with the
elements of the natural and urban environments. Time,
memory and loss is the basic concept of Nazif Topçuoğlu's work. He reconstructs dubious and tainted images
of an idealised past with the intention to defeat the
transience of people and things in general. Currently,
he produced images of young girls - in ambiguous retro
positions and appearance - dealing with books, with strategic
details implicating the power of knowledge and information.
www.inlimbotheshow.com
www.btmadra.com/venicebiennale.html
Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (UCCET),
Profilo Telra Elektronik San. ve Tic. A.Ş., Aksoy
Grafik Dizgi Matbaacılık A.Ş., Turco-Italian
Friendship Association in Milano, Cognis Kimya Turkey
and Organik Holding A.Ş. and Alitalia are the contributing sponsors.
For
further information Beral Madra
0090 (0212) 231 10 23 / btmadra@turk.net
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