Collection of Turkish contemporary art to be featured in New York

As two very different cities, New York and Istanbul both possess a dynamic social scene which is often captured in art by local artists. It is no coincidence that contemporary art thrives and evolves in these vast urban areas where a variety of social classes mingle on a day-to-day basis. Thus, two different groups of artists from these two cities have come together to create a bond and explore the limits of contemporary art with their series, "THE DIALOGUES."

Organized by the Istanbul-based art gallery ALAN Istanbul, the first exhibition will be held in one of the most well-known contemporary art spaces in the U.S. state of New Jersey at MANA Contemporary, located in Apostrope, New Jersey, "THE DIALOGUES I: A Collection of Turkish Contemporary Art," which will bring the works of Turkish contemporary artists together, is designed to reflect reproductions of cultural fragments through the styles of new figurative art as well as pop art using different types of mediums such as the media, painting, photography, print and sculpture.


Kezban Arca Batıbeki,

"Girl with Peacock"

The exhibition has been scheduled for the same days as the "The Armory Show" - one of the most significant art events in the world - which will be held just across the Hudson River in New York from March 2-5, making THE DIALOUGES exhibition a parallel event which aims to connect art lovers from all over the world through a better understanding of Turkish contemporary art.

In the exhibition, Harun Antakyalı will present street art through his works by creating a concrete effect on canvas. Another featured Turkish artist, Eylül Aslan, will promote her version of feminism through analog photographs. A well-known name in Turkish contemporary art, Kezban Arca Batıbeki will question how women manage to survive in different societies and social classes in Turkey. Alper Bıçaklıoğlu will contribute with works that reflect the streets of Turkey through his graffiti-like silk screen prints and acrylic paintings while Kadriye İnal will display her sculptures which feature women and Huri Kiriş will reflect social chaos through her superb oil paintings.

For the exhibition, A. Cem Şahin will showcase prints that convey the darker parts of the subconscious in relation to urban metropolitan life. Merve Şendil will display her unique painting technique that resembles the soft and distorted pixels of a faraway object and, last but not least, Sait Mingü will question society and people with his C-print mounted prints.