A Selection from the Istanbul Modern Collection

Istanbul Modern has held eight collection exhibitions since it opened in 2004. All of them adopted a chronological approach to the evolution of art in Türkiye while also tackling a wide variety of narrative forms addressing the relation between artists and artworks, art movements, specific styles, and works assembled around various themes.

“Floating Islands” is the first collection exhibition to be held in the new museum building designed by architect Renzo Piano and the most comprehensive to date. The show takes its name from the notion that every artist is an island, often moving and interacting with other islands. In today’s world of rising migration and dissolving boundaries between times and locations, these islands represent parts of a unique ecosystem. As “islands,” artists are distinctive, native actors that have an organic bond with their mainland and surroundings.

“Floating Islands” focuses on the main art currents in Türkiye from 1945 onwards that are represented in Istanbul Modern’s ever-expanding collection and prioritizes these movements rather than the years in which works were produced. The exhibition provides a comprehensive overview of how artistic tendencies in Türkiye have evolved while also clarifying the relationship between artworks and their production date. The works in this section deal with a wide variety of topics ranging from the problematics of art to cultural, political, and sociological issues. In this context, the exhibition reveals the changing dynamics of art, the orientation and personal search of artists both within and outside of the Fine Arts Academy’s sphere of influence, and the shifting viewpoints of artists from Türkiye who live and exhibit overseas. The juxtaposition of artworks from different periods, one of the most important aspects of the exhibition, highlights the diversity of artists’ tendencies.

*Exerpt from the article by Deniz Pehlivaner, Curator of the exhibition, in the catalog.

Nejad Melih Devrim
Untitled
1978-1986
Gouache on paper
33 x 25 cm
Dr. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı Foundation Collection
Istanbul Museum of Modern Art / Long Term Loan
(detail)