Toygun Özdemir
Unforced Errors, Coincidences and Lost Years
January 10, 2025 – February 08, 2025
Unforced Errors, Coincidences and Lost Years marked Toygun Özdemir’s fifth solo exhibition at Öktem Aykut Gallery, featuring a carefully curated collection of 22 works created over the past three years. This series breathes new life into the rich imagery of Özdemir's earlier exhibitions, transforming it into layered, evocative narratives. The artist reflects on the complexities of navigating the 21st century, exploring the emotional spectrum that emerges from embracing life’s unpredictability — ranging from moments of meditative calm to deep anxiety and profound sorrow.
One of the exhibition’s standout pieces, Smalls (2024), pictured above, is a large oil painting on canvas nearly two metres by three metres, capturing the chaotic vibrancy of a city’s nightlife, reminiscent of New York. The lower half of the painting is dominated by towering high-rise buildings, anchoring the scene in a bustling urban landscape. At the centre, a close-up of hands playing the piano draws the viewer’s attention, while to the left a man at a bar holding a beer mirrors the viewer’s immersion in the music. In the far top left corner, a trumpet player intensifies the scene's energetic atmosphere. The upper right corner reveals a sequence of four scenes, subtly unfolding in a light green palette that adds an air of mystery.
A smaller work, Village (2024), similarly captures an urban essence, though with a more intimate feel. Featuring elements such as the piano, people with drinks, and stacked buildings, the painting also includes one of Istanbul’s iconic bridges, while an explosive burst in the lower left corner adds an unexpected dynamic. Village takes note of Istanbul’s nightlife, rendered entirely in blue. Özdemir’s exclusive use of blue evokes what might be described as “Istanbul blues” , a nostalgic longing felt by Istanbulites for better times, a longing trapped in memories of the past, yearning for a time that now feels distant and more idyllic.
Amid the more lively pieces The Meanders (2024) offers a striking contrast, portraying a rainy scene with a close-up of a sullen-faced boy salting a slug, and evoking a sense of melancholy.
In contrast, Orlando (2024) introduces a more liberated, sunlit atmosphere. With its soft background of baby blue and white, the painting features a playful arrangement of squares in varying sizes and shapes. The work recalls the whimsical simplicity of a page from Paul Klee’s children’s book, while also embodying the spirit of an artist experimenting with new forms, colours and techniques—as though the canvas were a space to explore fresh possibilities.
Compared to his earlier solo exhibitions, Unforced Errors, Coincidences and Lost Years presents a more vibrant and expansive body of work, capturing the full spectrum of emotions shaped by our unpredictable world and its circumstances. With its dynamic blend of narratives and emotions, the exhibition invites deeper engagement, offering a richer and more immersive experience.
Naime Didem Öz
Imprint
December 26, 2024 – February 01, 2025
Imprint marked the inaugural exhibition at Off Grid Art Project, a fresh addition to Istanbul’s contemporary art landscape. Situated off of Istiklal Street in Taksim, Off Grid – true to its name – seeks to carve out a space on the fringes of the city's mainstream art scene, providing an opportunity for independent artists to showcase their work and “receive year-long mentorship support during their creative process”.
This debut exhibition was also the fourth solo showcase by Naime Didem Öz, Associate Professor in the Department of Traditional Turkish Arts at Mimar Sinan University. Drawing on her extensive academic research into traditional weaving techniques and motifs, Öz transforms these time-honoured practices into innovative artistic expressions, reimagining their possibilities for a contemporary audience.
The heart of the exhibition space was dominated by a striking 180cm-long textile. The piece Untitled (2023–2024) began as a wall-mounted artwork and flows seamlessly onto the floor. Woven using a plain weave and adorned with block printing, it transitions from deep black at the top to vivid crimson red at the bottom, where intricate white traditional motifs emerge, scattered sporadically across the surface.
Positioned on the right wall of the entrance, Untitled (2023–2024) serves as a compelling embodiment of Öz’s vision, blending traditional techniques with contemporary innovation to reimagine heritage in a fresh and dynamic way. The artwork features layered, rectangular strips of woven textile, dyed in rich shades of red, crimson and burgundy. Repetitive yet varied black floral and leaf motifs, applied through block printing, decorate the surface. The intersecting layers form a grid-like structure, with lighter, uncoloured sections adding depth and contrast. Uneven edges, with frayed or extended strips, imbue the piece with a sense of movement and raw imperfection. This interplay of traditional motifs and modern, deconstructed aesthetics creates a visually dynamic and tactile experience that defines Öz’s unique approach.
With Imprint, Naime Didem Öz invites viewers to engage with a dialogue between tradition and innovation, offering a space to reflect on how cultural heritage can be transformed into new, contemporary narratives – an exhibition which serves as an invitation to be more inquisitive and playful with what is accepted as conventional.
Barın Han
Group Show
Narrative Power Alliance: Exhibition
January 09, 2025 – February 09, 2025
Curated by Onur Karaoğlu and Alper Turan, Narrative Power Alliance: Exhibition was a group show that brought together human rights defenders, platforms and associations from across Turkey in support of a shared mission: to amplify the voices of the oppressed, the silenced, and the unheard.
The exhibition featured works by Trans Memory Collective, Fatma Belkıs, Gregg Bordowitz, Nejbir Erkol, Kiki ggNash, Marina Papazyan, Zeyno Pekünlü, Belit Sağ, Jilet Sebahat, Üzüm Derin Solak, Serdar Soydan, Furkan Öztekin (with Ceyhan Fırat), and Cansu Yıldıran.
Upon entering the exhibition space, the viewer’s attention was immediately drawn to a text installation covering the walls of the first room, guiding them towards the second. Untitled (2025), by multidisciplinary artist Nejbir Erkol, features a banner made from flag fabric, displaying the repetitive word ARIZA (malfunction) in bold capital letters with no spaces between them. At first glance, however, the word reads as rıza (consent). The repetition starkly underscores the delicate interplay between malfunction and consent, illustrating how these two concepts can collide at the edge of chaos.
Also in this room the viewer encountered an archival research project by the artist Serdar Soydan, focusing on Adnan Pekak, Zenne Necdet and Kudret Şandra. These three were not only movie stars and musicians but also iconic figures within the LGBTQ community of their time. Despite their prominence, they have been forgotten over the years. Soydan’s compilation highlights their achievements, their visible presence in the social sphere, and their frequent appearances in the media, offering a nuanced reflection on forgotten aspects of Turkish society and their overall acceptance.
In the back left corner of the second main space an installation by the artist Cansu Yıldıran, in collaboration with the Havle Women’s Association, was showcased. The Fluidity of (Non)Covering (2025) was a photographic installation consisting of 350 images, all of the same dimensions, suspended from the ceiling by transparent thread. The photographs are fragmented, offering a nuanced portrayal of these women.
The Havle Women’s Association, the first Muslim feminist group in Turkey, has often been excluded from both the feminist movement and the Muslim community for its feminist stance. Both sides believe that such a concept, being both feminist and Muslim, is impossible. And yet Yıldıran challenges this fragmented view of the Havle group, questioning the ethics of representation and the visibility of feminist bodies.
As the exhibition unfolds one truly appreciates the power of having the freedom to express one's own narrative, being in control of it, and the ability to share that with an audience. The exhibition serves as both a learning experience and a powerful form of resistance against the growing anti-gender movements of our times. After all, it is the power of narrative that has the ability to transform the foundation of discourse in social movements.
Pilot Galeri
Hamra Abbas
Garden Reimagined
December 19, 2024 – February 01, 2025
Hidden in plain sight on Sıraselviler Street in Cihangir, Pilot Galeri was transformed into an underworld of vibrant symbolism for Garden Reimagined, the fourth solo exhibition by Kuwait-born, Pakistani artist Hamra Abbas. This multidisciplinary showcase delved into gardens, marginalised individuals, and the rich historical significance of lapis lazuli.
The journey began with Flower Studies (2024), a series of six marble-inlay works featuring lapis lazuli flowers. The first piece, positioned just before the entrance to the grand hall, draws the viewer into Abbas’s world. Marble inlay, or pietra dura, is a relatively recent addition to her repertoire, which she began exploring after returning to Lahore from Boston in 2015. This technique reflects Abbas’s reconnection with her cultural heritage and serves as a medium for storytelling.
At the centre of the gallery, Garden 3 (2024) commanded attention. Spanning 3 metres in length and standing 180 centimetres tall, this intricate four-piece marble inlay incorporated marble, lapis lazuli, serpentine, jasper, calcite and granite. It embodied Abbas’s vision of a garden as “a site of both historical and personal memory”, as noted in the press release. The composition juxtaposed K2, the world’s second-highest and deadliest peak, against a rose bush in the foreground. The mountain’s snow-clad majesty loomed like a silent witness, anchoring the interplay between permanence and fragility.
Artists have long been drawn to mountainscapes, studying their majestic appeal and their mind-sculpting power. Many have strived to capture the layers of the mountain’s unwavering identity. Cemented in presence. Unbothered by centuries. For the Lebanese-American poet and painter Etel Adnan, it was the Northern Californian icon, Mount Tamalpais. A subject matter she studied throughout the last quarter of her life. It is only natural for Abbas to be drawn to her native K2, which stands as both a symbol and a lesson.
The exhibition also spotlights individuals often overlooked by society. Through ten portraits in her Porter 1 Series, Abbas honours the high-altitude porters of Gilgit-Baltistan, unsung heroes of treacherous mountain expeditions. Using the South Asian miniature painting tradition and semi-precious lapis lazuli — a pigment historically reserved for sacred art — Abbas immortalises these figures. Her technique draws on a 14th-century Italian method which she recently mastered, infusing each portrait with a striking vibrancy that challenges its marginalisation and erasure.
Garden Reimagined is a sensory and emotional experience. Whether marvelling at the meticulous craftsmanship or immersing yourself in the symbolic narratives, this exhibition offers a rare blend of beauty and depth. It serves as both a meditation and a celebration of resilience, a fitting homage to the idea of the garden as a sanctuary for the soul.
Dirimart Pera
Gabriela Těthalová
Hyperbole Rising
January 08, 2025 – February 16, 2025
The Czech artist Gabriela Těthalová’s first solo exhibition Hyperbole Rising at Dirimart marks her debut in Istanbul. Drawing inspiration from Stéphane Mallarmé’s Prose (Pour des Esseintes), published in 1885, Těthalová infuses her exhibition with a deep literary and philosophical underpinning. Mallarmé, one of France’s most influential poets of the late 19th century, wrote Prose after a 17-year silence, calling it his “eternal parchment”— a manifesto of his idealised vision of the world. Těthalová selects the following lines from the poem to set the tone of her exhibition: “Since, through science, I inscribe/The hymn of hearts so spiritual/In my work of patience, inside/ Atlas, herbal, ritual.”
These lines guide the viewer into a world of reflection, where art, patience, and spiritual inquiry converge.
Těthalová’s two-and-a-half-metre-wide canvases are both bold and vibrant, adorned with sweeping curves and layered shapes. At first glance, the works appear meticulously calculated and pristine, yet they are driven by the artist’s self-proclaimed technique of letting the material guide her, allowing it to determine its own path.
A central theme of Těthalová’s work is “in search of the role of rhythm in music, literature, poetry and visual arts, the artist seeks ways of creating abstract works based on aesthetic values that are hard to access consciously.” Through her abstract compositions she challenges the viewer to reflect on this notion, exploring how beauty can emerge from the interplay of structure, chaos and intuition.
Among the standout pieces in the exhibition is La Trompette d'Été (2024), a quieter, more subdued work in which a trumpet-like figure appears at the top centre of the canvas, rendered in warm yellow and brown tones reminiscent of summer. The piece offers a gentler contrast to the boldness of the other works, evoking a sense of serenity.
Těthalová’s debut exhibition in Istanbul showcases a delicate balance between intention and spontaneity. Through her innovative approach, she invites viewers to reconsider not just the form of art, but the very essence of what makes it beautiful.
Galerist
Horseless Horseman
January 16, 2025 – February 22, 2025
Nazım Ünal Yılmaz’s second solo exhibition at Galerist, Horseless Horseman, "explores the boundaries between subject and object, as well as the human-animal relationship", adding a layer to this investigation through the lens of the Austrian poet H.C. Artmann’s notion that one can be a poet without writing a single word of poetry.
This exploration of the subject-animal and human-animal dynamics evokes the Indian mystic and philosopher Osho’s "Rider and Horse" exercise, in which the individual experiences the body without the influence of the mind and vice versa. What would it be like to experience the body free of the mind’s interference? How does the body shape and transform the workings of the mind? And what does it mean to be a horseman without a horse?
The exhibition balances this intellectual exploration with a sense of playfulness, immediately evident in the opening painting. I’m Ugly, My Cock Is Beautiful (2024), an oil on canvas, uses a witty play on words. The piece portrays a smiling, unibrowed man (a self-portrait), his face partly concealed by a chicken which covers the lower half.
An additional layer to the study of duality is subtly emphasised through the artist’s choice of wall paint. The lower half of the gallery walls is painted gray — a neutral, nondescript colour reminiscent of bureaucratic spaces and the walls of state primary schools — while the upper half remains white. This deliberate choice enhances the exhibition's exploration of duality, adding another visual dimension to the space.
Yılmaz’s work is multilayered and deliberately avoids being confined to a single theme. Instead, the artist aims to provoke the viewer, stir emotions, and encourage them to interpret his work through the lens of their own experiences. Although convoluted, the paintings do not confine the viewer to the artist’s perspective. Instead, they invite personal interpretation, often incorporating elements that lighten their otherwise heavy themes. For instance, in Circus Maximus I (2024), amid a chaotic and bloody battle scene, the lower half of the canvas unexpectedly features the head of Patrick, the starfish from the cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants. This whimsical detail immediately prompts the viewer to ask, “Why is he there?” The artist leaves this question open to interpretation: does Patrick, a symbol of naïve foolishness, represent those who instigate war, or those who blindly participate in it?
My personal favourite is Blue (Horse) (2025), a more subtle and minimalist piece, yet one that conveys a clear and profound message. No exhibition working with recurring imagery of the horse would be complete without the figure of a horseman on horseback. The artist’s use of a limited colour palette—shades of blue and sunrise yellow — reinforces the painting's mood. In the background stands a mountain, while in the foreground, a horseman on horseback — a cowboy, identifiable by his hat — faces the mountain, his goal set: to reach the summit. The horse, however, faces the viewer, as if to deliver a message: “You know something this hero doesn’t.”
In the lower right corner, a faceless man holds the horse’s leash. He is on foot, his head bowed, his body leaning forward in motion. One of his legs merges with the horse’s, giving him an almost spectral presence. For me, this figure serves as an ode to the unsung individuals who quietly support heroes on their journeys.
In an age dominated by the cult of the "strongman" and the rising cultural veneration of “techbro” figures like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Peter Thiel, it is a welcome reminder that no one reaches the summit alone. There are always unrecognised contributors along the way. This indigenous figure — situated at the periphery of the painting, nearly invisible and destined to remain untold in the hero’s narrative — is a powerful reminder of the unseen hands that shape every journey to greatness.
Zilberman Gallery
Cengiz Tekin
Waves Don’t Draw Maps
January 10, 2025 – March 22, 2025
Cengiz Tekin, a multidisciplinary artist and photographer, presents his first solo exhibition, Waves Don’t Draw Maps, at Zilberman Gallery, in Beyoğlu’s Mısır Apartment. The exhibition is a captivating exploration of the tension between human constructs and the uncontainable force of nature. Tekin challenges the human-made concept of bodies of water as tools for drawing maps and defining borders. He argues that water, by its very nature, defies such containment. It is fluid, limitless and unbound by the arbitrary lines we impose upon it.
Born and raised in Diyarbakır, Tekin is deeply connected to his native city, using it as both subject and muse. He draws from its political, cultural,and social dynamics, highlighting the contradictions that shape the region. A central inspiration for Tekin is the Dicle (Tigris) River, where he spent much of his childhood. The river has taught him how bodies of water create spaces of equality and freedom. For Tekin the Dicle River is both the core theme and the foundation of the exhibition's narrative. Water, by its nature, is indiscriminate, whether it manifests as a natural disaster like a flood or as a space of transformation during the act of entering it. In both cases water fosters a sense of sameness and unity.
Tekin explores this concept in Upside Down (2024), an installation featuring 12 small sculptures (see detail above). Each depicts the upper body of a man emerging from a spoon. In his right hand he holds a pair of boot-like shoes, while his left hand rests atop his head, clutching folded clothes. These figures are arranged in a repetitive pattern along the wall, collectively forming the installation. Each figure symbolises an individual crossing a river. The act of crossing the water requires them to physically shed their clothing and masks, stripping away the identities they wear in daily life.
At the centre of the exhibition space, almost dividing the room, stands The Recycling Mistake (2024), a hip-length golden iron railing crafted from slithering snakes. Inspired by the Dicle River’s non-poisonous water snakes – some of which grow up to 3 metres long – Tekin subverts their inherent harmlessness. The snakes’ bodies form the shape of a Kalashnikov rifle’s trigger, an alteration that shifts their symbolism from benign creatures to dangerous symbols. This work further critiques how social constructs distort our understanding of nature and the things we fear.
In the right corner of the space, Pastoral Symphony (2021) unfolds as a two-channel video installation. More than four minutes long, the video juxtaposes decaying man-made materials near bodies of water. The slow, meditative pace of the work contrasts the hurried rhythms of the urban world, prompting the viewer to reconsider humanity’s relationship with nature. As water takes dominance in these spaces, it raises the question: What truly belongs to nature?
Tekin’s exhibition is a profound meditation on boundaries, both physical and conceptual,and the ways in which we perceive and respond to the natural world. Through his work he not only challenges the imposed limitations of maps and borders but also invites us to rethink our relationship with nature and the inherent equality that water, in its most elemental form, offers.
