“Fantasy Screen of Contemporary Art”

 Curator:

Efe Korkut Kurt

Artists:

Rasim Aksan

Kezban Arca Batıbeki

Ramazan Bayrakoğlu

Kadriye İnal

Huri Kiriş

Komet

İrfan Önürmen

27^th January – 27^th February, 2016

ALAN Istanbul

At what point does an image trigger desire? This question is obviously on the agenda of every artist and theoretician working in the field of contemporary art. It’s an important question, for it’s been a part of all thought systems that have influenced art theory since the beginning of the 20^th century. However, what makes this question so focal for the practice of art is the fact that the bombardment of images has currently reached a peak, encapsulating all areas of life. Images have become means of direct seduction on individuals and tools of social manipulation; and the question of what they mean to the production paradigm of contemporary art is a complicated one and has multiple answers. Located at the heart of the criticism of post-modern culture and having a tendency to reduce contemporary art to an accomplice of the system, this area of expression possesses an inadequacy that needs to be overcome.

The show “Che Vuoi?” addresses the question of how images function within the interval between contemporary art and desire, by presenting works of significant Turkish contemporary artists. It aims to point out the blind spot of desire which can not be reduced to a tool of ideological mystification and which resists capital and political strategies. From a visual standpoint, desire is linked to not what we see, but what we don’t see. Lacanian theory defines this interval through a screen of fantasy. In this regard, the continuity of desire is only possible through the impossibility of reaching its object, and thus fantasy takes the place of this non-existent object. This inversion leaves viewers face to face with the big question: “Che Vuoi?” (what do you want?). This is the moment when the contemporary artist recreates himself as the unanchorable trigger of desire by means of the fantastic scenario he/she comes up with. This show is an attempt to experience this “moment”.

The show “CHE VUOI? Fantasy Screen of Contemporary Art” can be seen at ALAN Istanbul between the dates January 27^th, 2016 – February 27^th, 2016.

İRFAN ÖNÜRMEN,UNTİTLED,2016,27CM X 39CM,MİXED MEDİA ON PAPER

İRFAN ÖNÜRMEN,UNTİTLED,2016,27CM X 39CM,MİXED MEDİA ON PAPER

KOMET,CHE VUOİ?,2016,22CM X 18CM,FİNE ART PRİNT,3+1 (ED.)

RASİM AKSAN,UNTİTLED, 2012,PENCİL AND ACRYLİC AİRBRUSH ON PAPER,8 X 7.8 CM (UNFRAMED)