When is a museum collection completed? Maybe never. Because even though the works remain fixed in their places, the perspective on them changes; When the same work comes together with another work, it begins to tell a different story. Istanbul Modern's new collection exhibition "Under the Same Blue" provides a good answer to this question.
The work, which is the tenth collection exhibition of the museum, reconsiders the transformation of modern and contemporary art in Turkey from the 1940s to the present. Dr. The exhibition, which extends from the Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı Collection Exhibition Hall to different floors of the museum, from its foyers to its library, includes 230 works of 119 artists. 43 of the works are in front of the audience for the first time.
NOT A COLOR, BUT A COMMON HORIZON
The "blue" in the title of the exhibition curated by Çelenk Bafra and Deniz Pehlivaner creates the impression of a poetic narrative based on a color at first glance. But the exhibition's proposal is broader than that. Blue here evokes the sea and the sky, distance and closeness, freedom and horizon; It is defined as a field of thinking that brings different works together without melting them into the same aesthetics. Therefore, instead of looking for "blue" works in the exhibition, it is necessary to look at the questions around which the seemingly distant works come closer together.
Regarding the structure and curatorial setup of the exhibition, Istanbul Modern Artistic Director Çelenk Bafra says, "Under the Same Blue consists of sections that bring together historical continuity and thematic readings within the same fiction, without completely abandoning the chronological art history narrative. The blue that gives its name to the exhibition offers a conceptual basis that enables new relationships to be established between different periods and geographies."
Deniz Pehlivaner, co-curator of the exhibition, states that "Under the Same Blue" invites us to rethink art production from the 1940s to the present day, through issues that remain current today. Pehlivaner emphasizes that art historical relations, connections between artists and the visibility of women artists are among the prominent topics of the exhibition.
Referring to Walter Benjamin's understanding of history in the curatorial text, Pehlivaner points out that the collection can be re-read through today's questions rather than being a structure that fixes the past.
FROM THE 1940'S TO TODAY...
In the first part of the exhibition, the transformation of modern art in Turkey can be observed. This section, which extends from the 1940s to the 2000s, examines the development of modern and contemporary art in Turkey in a historical flow.
In the selection ranging from early examples of abstract art in Turkey to figurative expressions, from social realism to conceptual approaches, the relationship between the changing aesthetic pursuits of artists and Turkey's socio-cultural transformation is made visible.
Nejad Melih Devrim and Adnan Çoker's search for abstraction, Fahrelnissa Zeid's productions that oscillate between the figure and the abstract, Neşet Günal and Nedim Günsür's paintings focusing on laborers' bodies, Neşe Erdok's view of the city people and Ara Güler's Istanbul photographs constitute different stops of this historical transformation.
However, the remarkable aspect of the exhibition is that it does not read these artists only in terms of "the period they belong to". For example, the juxtaposition of Neşet Günal and his student Neşe Erdok also touches the master-student relationship.
Similarly, the generational relationship between Altan Gürman and Ayşe Erkmen is read through how the idea of art is transferred and transformed.
THE HISTORY LINE IS BREAKING
In the second part of the exhibition, the timeline stretches. Productions after 2000; It meets around topics such as war, migration, displacement, nature, body, gender, labor, tradition, city and architecture.
Here, the borders between Türkiye and the world are blurring. Works of artists such as Hale Tenger, Sarkis, Gülsün Karamustafa, Fatoş İrwen and Aslı Çavuşoğlu; He encounters the works of artists from different geographies such as Anselm Kiefer, Georg Baselitz, Julie Mehretu, William Kentridge and Haegue Yang, on the same intellectual axes.
In the “War, Destruction, Displacement” section, historical traumas, migration and belonging; In “Nature, Motif, Transformation”, human relationship with nature and ecological rupture; Body, gender, identity and invisible labor in “Representation, Narrative, Tradition”; In “City, Space, Layer”, changing cities, architectural and cultural circulation are discussed.
Thus, the meaning of a work is shaped not only by the identity of its artist or the period in which it was produced, but also by the relationship it establishes with the work next to it.
WOMEN ARTISTS ARE GAINING VISIBILITY
One of the striking features of the exhibition is the space it opens for the production of women artists. The selection, ranging from Fahrelnissa Zeid, Aliye Berger, Füreya Koral, Şükriye Dikmen and Yıldız Moran to Nil Yalter, İpek Duben, Füsun Onur, Gülsün Karamustafa, CANAN, Elif Uras and Güneş Terkol, examines the production of women in Turkish art through different periods and practices.
The contemporary section, especially built around body, labor and identity, creates a space where female artists are positioned not only as "represented" but also as subjects that transform the narrative of art history.
THE MUSEUM IS ALSO A PART OF THE EXHIBITION
The expansion of “Under the Same Blue” beyond the exhibition halls is a continuation of this idea. The collection is no longer the sum of works encountered only on a certain floor of the museum.
Works by Tracey Emin, Hans Op de Beeck, Seyhun Topuz and Lee Bul are in the foyers; Works by Halil Altındere and Serkan Özkaya are in the library; Claudia Pagès Rabal's "Five Towers of Defense" meets the audience in the cinema foyer. On the exterior, works by Bettina Pousttchi, Anthony Cragg and Liam Gillick make the border between the museum and the city a part of the exhibition.
Thus, the visitor does not end up visiting the exhibition in a single hall; The collection continues to appear throughout the museum.
The real claim of "Under the Same Blue" becomes clear here: not to rewrite the history of art, but to open up other possibilities of encounter for it. Rethinking the past with today's questions instead of preserving it as it is. Blue remains the common sky on which these encounters lie.
