Istanbul Modern, Turkey’s first museum of modern and contemporary art, has opened its final collection exhibition at its temporary space in Beyoğlu district. The museum, one of the most important hubs for contemporary galleries in the city, will move once the construction of the permanent presentation is completed in Galataport in the city's Karaköy district.
Since its founding in 2004, Istanbul Modern has organized collection exhibitions that show the evolution and transformation of modern and contemporary art in Turkey as well as the international orientation of the museum's acquisitions. The newest collection exhibition presents the development of abstract and figurative paintings in Turkey during the post 1950 period and contemporary artworks that deal with nature and the environment. It brings together 40 artworks by 30 artists and two artist duos and includes works that will be presented to the public for the first time. The show focuses on recent works by artists who are concerned about ecological issues and deal with nature in their paintings, sculptures, videos, installations and photography.
For example, the second floor of the museum showcases a variety of contemporary art dealing with nature and the environment. Bringing together artists from different generations, the selection draws attention to the destruction of nature, the depletion of natural resources and the inevitable rise of ecological problems.
The third floor of the museum presents a chronological selection of iconic abstract and figurative paintings to show the development of these movements in Turkey after 1950. The first section illustrates the visual and intellectual influence of Anatolian and Islamic culture on abstract painting grounded in a geometric and lyrical approach. The second section focuses on the trajectory from social realism in figurative painting to the New Figurative approaches of the 1970s and the expressionist and conceptual art of the 1980s.
Among the participants artists of the exhibit are Kuzgun Acar, Haluk Akakçe, Erol Akyavaş, Tomur Atagök, Alper Aydın, Barbara and Zafer Baran, Bedri Baykam, Cihat Burak, Ergin Çavuşoğlu, Nejad Melih Devrim, Latifa Echakhch, Neş’e Erdok, Abidin Elderoğlu, Ahmet Elhan, Tayfun Erdoğmuş, Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, Eren Eyüboğlu, Kamil Fırat, Mehmet Güleryüz, Neşet Günal, Balkan Naci Islimyeli, Ihsan Cemal Karaburçak, Komet, :mentalKLINIK, Nusret Nurdan, Orhan Peker, Jennifer Steinkamp, Ziya Tacir, Canan Tolon, F. Tülin, Ömer Uluç and Fahrelnissa Zeid.
