Modern Experiences

MODERN EXPERIENCES

Adopting an art historical standpoint in presenting to its audiences the development of Turkish visual arts over the last 100 years; İstanbul Modern in its third year, the museum embraced a totally new approach with "Modern Experiences" exhibition.

FROM OTTOMAN EMPIRE TO TURKISH REPUBLIC

In this exhibition a different approach has been taken that stresses the chronological development of painting in the Ottoman Empire and Turkish Republic from the nineteenth century until the end of the 1940s shown in the light of changing social and political contexts.

In the scope of these paintings, created a framework within which different aspects, tendencies and marks of modernity can be seen as they begin to appear within Ottoman and Turkish art.


Curator: David Elliott


ABSTRACTION AND INTERPRETATION

This exhibition focused on the Turkish experience of abstract art, which began in the 1950s, as well as unique interpretations of figure painting; it also transmitted to the viewers’ imagination the symbolic images of modernization.

INDIVIDUAL IMPRESSIONS

Allocating a room to each artist, "Individual Impressions" aimed to indicate the personal connections these individuals have established with modernity and, without making reference to movements or thematic similarities, expose the alternative narratives that conform to the artists’ sensibilities and distinct stylistic expressions.
The "Self-Portrait" gallery set in a smaller section of the exhibition hall offered a psychological insight into their personal experiences.

Curators: Ali Akay, Levent Çalıkoğlu, Haşim Nur Gürel