HOT SPOT ISTANBUL

HOT SPOT ISTANBUL at Museum Haus Konstruktiv is the first comprehensive exhibition of Turkish abstract, concrete and conceptual art in Switzerland, with works from over sixty years. The project's starting point is the development of Turkish abstract concrete painting since the end of the 1940s and the impact that it has had on a young generation of artists who are active all around the world in a broad network. For this reason, the exhibition also includes numerous artists who live and work in Turkey and in other places simultaneously or live only in other places or live even no more in Turkey. The exhibition will be accompanied by three publications. For some years, a very special, energetic and lively art scene has been establishing itself in Turkey, especially in Istanbul. This divided city on the Bosporus offers the ideal platform for creative forces. Between tradition and innovation, a scene has developed which is intoxicating, in the very best sense of the word. It is drawing an ever-increasing number of young artists to Istanbul from other Turkish cities. New galleries are appearing and new art spaces can be discovered everywhere. Istanbul is the place where a lot of what brings the present in its wake today just seems to happen in a highly condensed manner. Hot spot Istanbul! Museum Haus Konstruktiv has set itself the goal of bringing Istanbul's vitality to Zurich, focusing on Turkish art history, as well as contemporary art, on the basis of selected examples. This exhibition project is based on close cooperation with artists, collections and private individuals who provided the museum with substantial support for the realization of this exhibition project.

HOT SPOT ISTANBUL is subdivided into five different sections and each individual section functions autonomously, but when observed in context, the relationships between them will make the link from art history to the present day clear. Paintings, drawings, sculptures, videos, installations and environments are to be presented. Via individual presentations of current and historical artists alike, as well as via themed exhibitions on the various floors, historical developments become comprehensible. The effects of these developments come into contact with movements such as concrete and geometric art, minimal art and conceptual art. The subtle gray areas between representational, abstract and concrete approaches are also to be explored, along with an examination of the "isms" of art history. At the same time, we wish to draw attention to the fact that, with their works, artists are frequently able to anticipate things, thus bypassing the linear timeline.

What will be on display: At the interface between sculpture and environment, the artist Can Altay (*1975) shall develop a walk-through course for the large entrance hall on the first floor, which will present works from the late 1940s to the present day, e.g. by Adnan Çoker (*1927), Nejad Melih Devrim (1923-1995), Burhan Dogançay (1929-2013), Renée Levi (*1960), Ahmet Oran (*1957), Mübin Orhon (1924-1981), Seçkin Pirim (*1977), Arslan Sukan (*1973), Canan Tolon (*1955), Seyhun Topuz (*1942), Ömer Uluç (1931-2010), Ebru Uygun (*1974), Ekrem Yalcindag (*1964) and Fahrelnissa Zeid (1901-1991). As if it were the DNA of the whole exhibition, this course in the entrance hall provides a broad and informative inventory. On the second floor and in the smaller hall on the fourth floor, two solo exhibitions are being realized by Ebru Uygun (*1974) and Ekrem Yalcindag (*1964). In the large columned hall on the fourth floor, we want to address conceptual art, with artists such as Serhat Kiraz (*1954), Renée Levi (*1960), Ahmet Öktem (*1951), Sarkis (*1938), Nejat Sati (1984), Arslan Sukan (*1973) and Erdem Taşdelen (*1985). In the cabinets on the fifth floor, we round off the exhibition with a solo presentation on each of four historically significant artists: Nejad Melih Devrim (1923-1995), Mübin Orhon (1924-1981), Ömer Uluç (1931-2010) and Fahrelnissa Zeid (1901-1991). These are important pioneers of post-1945 Turkish art.