Istanbul Art Scene: Horasan + Nejat Sati
An exhibition in collaboration with the gallery PI-Artworks (Istanbul/London)
Wednesday September 3rd, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Exhibition runs until Saturday September 27th
Unit 3C, Yally Industrial Building, 6 Yip Fat Street, Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong
An exhibition in collaboration with the gallery PI-Artworks (Istanbul/London)
Wednesday September 3rd, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Exhibition runs until Saturday September 27th
Unit 3C, Yally Industrial Building, 6 Yip Fat Street, Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong
(left) Mustafa Horasan, Labyrinth of Fridriksdottir, 2012, Oil on canvas, 200 x 170 cm.
(right) Nejat Sati, Untitled, 2012, Acrylic on Canvas, 180 x 150 cm.
(right) Nejat Sati, Untitled, 2012, Acrylic on Canvas, 180 x 150 cm.
Hong Kong, August 28, 2014——Yallay Gallery & Jean Marc Decrop is pleased to present Istanbul Art Scene: Horasan + Nejat Sati, an exhibition in collaboration with the gallery PI-Artworks, featuring artworks by Turkish artists Mustafa Horasan and Nejat Sati.
Horasan is one of Turkey’s most important and influential portrait artists. He works across a wide range of media, including ink drawings, printmaking and photography, but he is best known for his large-scale oil paintings. The foundation of each painting is a thick but uniformly applied layer of paint that creates a colour gradient or simple pattern. Then, while it is still wet, the artist furrows away paint to create intricate filigree patterns. The patterning and flatness of this backdrop makes it reminiscent of wallpaper or a portrait photographer’s backdrop. In contrast to this, the human subject in the foreground, depicted in close-up, is realised using thick, gestural layers of colourful paint.
“Labyrinth” can be considered an extension of Horasan’s “Crash Series” which Horasan created in interaction with the works of artists he has faced many times during his artistic life. “In today’s environment, just like the audience, I find myself in a labyrinth of acts and emotions whenever I encounter a work of art. This is either the labyrinth of the world of the artwork or that of the artist. Within the labyrinth, what do you feel? The state of questioning this situation is the main theme of the exhibition,’’ the artist says about his works on display.
“Horasan uses the universal figure of the labyrinth and its symbolism as his paradigm; he produces a visual field that is open to resonances of sound and image, practice and imagination. His paintings are placed in an “other geography” which reflects the iconographic universe of the artist. They come into existence through experiencing the texture of the painting material; they sculpt time and make use of the surface of the canvas. His unique works are designed like stones added to a building undergoing construction. Every single work is surrounded by a network of imaginary and iconographic references with which the artist can open and give shape to the comprehension of the viewer.” ——Selen Ansen
Nejat Sati is part of a generation of artists who have utilised technical innovations to renovate the discipline of painting. Prior to commencing work, Sati mixes acrylic paint with a viscous, quick-drying gel to create his own signature material, which is applied to his canvases by either brush or squeegee. There is inevitably a learning curve to using this alternate medium, filled with unexpected incidents, sometimes welcomed, sometimes not, as he learns how his colours interact and the materials increased transparency affects his outcomes.
In Structure series (2013), Nejat Sati uses a squeegee to repeatedly pull various layers of colour across his pictures plane, ridding the canvas of all unnecessary details and shapes and presenting his material in the simplistic way imaginable. Due to the semi-transparent nature of his pigmented gel, the artist’s does not have full control of the painterly process and small bands of underlying colour peer through from under the paint that covers them.
About the Artists
Horasan (b.1965, Turkey) Graduated from the Marmara University Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Graphics (1986), Horasan exhibited at prestigious institutions locally and internationally including Paristanbul at the Grand Palais in Paris (1990), Turkish Artists Exhibition in New York (1995), the Sharjah Biennial in UAE (1999), Intersecting Times at the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art (2007), New Horizons, New Works at Istanbul Museum of Modern Art (2009), Istanbul Next Wave exhibition at Martin Gropius Bau in Berlin (2009). In 2012 Spring, his works will be exhibited at Art Dubai international art fair by Pi Artworks. He will have a solo show in Beirut in May, 2012. His works are included in many local and international private and corporate collections including Sharjah Museum, Horasan lives and works in Istanbul.
Nejat Sati (b.1982, Turkey) Sati graduated from Izmir’s DEU Fine Arts Faculty in 2004. His recent solo exhibitions include Hot Spot Istanbul at Haus Konstruktiv in Zurich, Switzerland (2013); State of Mind (2012) and Hypoglottis (2010) at Pi Artworks Istanbul and Well Done, Apartment Project, Istanbul (2009), Turkey.
His group exhibitions range as far afield as Lebanon, the UAE, South Korea, and Finland, including Encounters: Turkish Contemporary Art in Korea at Araart in Seoul, South Korea (2012) as well as Self Portrait at Alanistanbul, Istanbul, Turkey (2012). Art fair participation includes Contemporary Istanbul and Marrakech Art Fair.
The exhibition can be visited online: https://yallaygallery.net
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Horasan is one of Turkey’s most important and influential portrait artists. He works across a wide range of media, including ink drawings, printmaking and photography, but he is best known for his large-scale oil paintings. The foundation of each painting is a thick but uniformly applied layer of paint that creates a colour gradient or simple pattern. Then, while it is still wet, the artist furrows away paint to create intricate filigree patterns. The patterning and flatness of this backdrop makes it reminiscent of wallpaper or a portrait photographer’s backdrop. In contrast to this, the human subject in the foreground, depicted in close-up, is realised using thick, gestural layers of colourful paint.
“Labyrinth” can be considered an extension of Horasan’s “Crash Series” which Horasan created in interaction with the works of artists he has faced many times during his artistic life. “In today’s environment, just like the audience, I find myself in a labyrinth of acts and emotions whenever I encounter a work of art. This is either the labyrinth of the world of the artwork or that of the artist. Within the labyrinth, what do you feel? The state of questioning this situation is the main theme of the exhibition,’’ the artist says about his works on display.
“Horasan uses the universal figure of the labyrinth and its symbolism as his paradigm; he produces a visual field that is open to resonances of sound and image, practice and imagination. His paintings are placed in an “other geography” which reflects the iconographic universe of the artist. They come into existence through experiencing the texture of the painting material; they sculpt time and make use of the surface of the canvas. His unique works are designed like stones added to a building undergoing construction. Every single work is surrounded by a network of imaginary and iconographic references with which the artist can open and give shape to the comprehension of the viewer.” ——Selen Ansen
Nejat Sati is part of a generation of artists who have utilised technical innovations to renovate the discipline of painting. Prior to commencing work, Sati mixes acrylic paint with a viscous, quick-drying gel to create his own signature material, which is applied to his canvases by either brush or squeegee. There is inevitably a learning curve to using this alternate medium, filled with unexpected incidents, sometimes welcomed, sometimes not, as he learns how his colours interact and the materials increased transparency affects his outcomes.
In Structure series (2013), Nejat Sati uses a squeegee to repeatedly pull various layers of colour across his pictures plane, ridding the canvas of all unnecessary details and shapes and presenting his material in the simplistic way imaginable. Due to the semi-transparent nature of his pigmented gel, the artist’s does not have full control of the painterly process and small bands of underlying colour peer through from under the paint that covers them.
About the Artists
Horasan (b.1965, Turkey) Graduated from the Marmara University Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Graphics (1986), Horasan exhibited at prestigious institutions locally and internationally including Paristanbul at the Grand Palais in Paris (1990), Turkish Artists Exhibition in New York (1995), the Sharjah Biennial in UAE (1999), Intersecting Times at the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art (2007), New Horizons, New Works at Istanbul Museum of Modern Art (2009), Istanbul Next Wave exhibition at Martin Gropius Bau in Berlin (2009). In 2012 Spring, his works will be exhibited at Art Dubai international art fair by Pi Artworks. He will have a solo show in Beirut in May, 2012. His works are included in many local and international private and corporate collections including Sharjah Museum, Horasan lives and works in Istanbul.
Nejat Sati (b.1982, Turkey) Sati graduated from Izmir’s DEU Fine Arts Faculty in 2004. His recent solo exhibitions include Hot Spot Istanbul at Haus Konstruktiv in Zurich, Switzerland (2013); State of Mind (2012) and Hypoglottis (2010) at Pi Artworks Istanbul and Well Done, Apartment Project, Istanbul (2009), Turkey.
His group exhibitions range as far afield as Lebanon, the UAE, South Korea, and Finland, including Encounters: Turkish Contemporary Art in Korea at Araart in Seoul, South Korea (2012) as well as Self Portrait at Alanistanbul, Istanbul, Turkey (2012). Art fair participation includes Contemporary Istanbul and Marrakech Art Fair.
The exhibition can be visited online: https://yallaygallery.net
Back