Kutlug Ataman
dal 8/11/2010 al 5/3/2011
Segnalato da
8/11/2010
Kutlug Ataman
Istanbul Modern, Istanbul
The Enemy Inside Me. This exhibition will be a mid-career retrospective welcoming the Istanbul born artist home after a prosperous international career of almost 13 years. Ataman's video and film works document the lives of marginalized individuals who explicitly give voice to their own obsessions, their relations with micro and macro power structures and verbalize straightforwardly their subliminal issues or sexuality.
İstanbul Modern is pleased to present the most comprehensive exhibition ever held by the internationally renowned contemporary artist Kutluğ Ataman, The Enemy Inside Me, that will bring together Ataman’s video installations as the first large-scale show.
Kutluğ Ataman first rose to prominence with his contribution to the 1997 International İstanbul Biennial. Later, he pursued a successful international career by opening exhibitions in distinguished museums and participating in biennials around the world. The prestigious awards he has obtained, books about his oeuvre and the social and political consciousness of his works earned him a well-deserved reputation and recognition in Turkish art circles. Yet, Ataman could exhibit only some of his works in Turkey. This exhibition will be a mid-career retrospective welcoming the İstanbul born artist home after a prosperous international career of almost 13 years. The Enemy Inside Me will present 11 major works including Women Who Wear Wigs (1999), Never My Soul (2001), It’s a Vicious Circle (2002), 99 Names (2002), The 4 Seasons of Veronica Read (2002), Stefan’s Room (2004), Testimony (2006), Paradise (2006), Turkish Delight (2007), fff (2006-9), along with a new work never before seen in Europe, Beggars (2010), co-commissioned by Thomas Dane Gallery and the 29th Bienal de São Paulo, 2010.
The exhibition is curated by İstanbul Modern’s Chief Curator Levent Çalıkoğlu.
On Kutluğ Ataman’s works:
Kutluğ Ataman’s video and film works document the lives of marginalized individuals who explicitly give voice to their own obsessions, their relations with micro and macro power structures and verbalize straightforwardly their subliminal issues or sexuality. Ataman explains his preference of these characters as follows: “I am not interested in exposing these people and turning them into a show. I only work with people that I see myself in.”
Ataman chooses narratives that dangle between reality and fiction, resembling primarily the style of documentation. He questions how individuals manifest their identities through storytelling and how narratives are used to re-fabricate another ‘self’. While offering an alternative to the categorizing structure of identity politics by putting the individual at the core, Ataman also interconnects significant themes of contemporary art today, such as historiography, social/individual identity, memory, plurality, myth, game and power.
Individuals at the centre of Ataman’s works narrate not over an academic, institutionalized and fixed representation of history, but over flexible performances such as personal myth-making, masking and shielding. While verbalizing personal stories, individuals expose the ease of verbal expression and persuasiveness of language. In his video works, Ataman shapes the layout of screens through the installation-sculpture like forms.
Who is Kutluğ Ataman?
Born in Istanbul in 1961, Ataman now lives and works between London, Islamabad, and İstanbul. After graduating from the Galatasaray High School, he studied cinema and television at the Mimar Sinan University and cinema at the Sorbonne University. He received his associate degree from the Los Angeles Santa Monica College.
He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), where he continued on with his master of fine arts studies.
Kutluğ Ataman’s works have been shown at various international exhibitions; such as Documenta (2002), Berlin (2001), São Paulo (2002), İstanbul (1997, 2003, 2007), Venice (1999) biennials and at the Tate Triennial (2003). His solo exhibitions were held at the leading galleries and museums worldwide; such as the National Museum of 21st Century Arts, Rome (2010); Whitechapel Gallery, London (2010); 2009 Cultural Capital, Linz (2009); Thomas Dane Gallery, London (2009); Ludwig Museum, Cologne (2009); Lentos Museum, Austria (2009); Vancouver Art Gallery, Canada (2008); The Orange County Museum of Art, California (2007); MuHKA, Belgium (2006); Artangel, London (2005); Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2005); Serpentine Gallery, London(2002); Copenhagen Contemporary Art Centre, Denmark (2002). His works can be seen in renowned collections including MoMA, New York; Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Vienna; the Dimitris Daskalopoulos Collection, Athens and the Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh. His feature films were screened at national and international film festivals and competed at Moscow International Film Festival and London Film Festival. He was the Chair of the Jury of the 2009 İstanbul International Film Festival.
Exhibition Sponsor: Garanti Bankası
Image: The 4 Seasons of Veronica Read, 2002, Documenta 11, Kassel, Germany, 2002. Courtesy Francesca Minini gallery, Milan
Press Office
Handan Senkoken, Tel: + 90 212 243 65 61. Fax: +90 212 243 43 19 handan.senkoken@istanbulmodern.org
Opening November 9, 2010
Istanbul Modern
Meclis-i Mebusan Ave. Liman İşletmeleri
Sahası Antrepo No:4 Karaköy - Istanbul
Hours:
Tuesday – Sunday: 10.00 a.m - 6.00 pm
Thursday: 10.00 p.m - 8.00 p.m
Monday closed
Admission:
Adults: 12 TL
Groups (more than 10 people): 10 TL
Students and seniors (65 and older): 6 TL
Museum members, children under 12, visitors with disabilities: Free
Every Thursday: Free