Alp Sime at Empire Project with long-awaited show
ISTANBUL
“A person under the influence of any of those extravagant passions - avarice and ambition - is not only miserable in his actual situation, but is just as often disposed to disturb the peace of society in order to gain what he so foolishly admires.” (Adam Smith, Theory of Moral Sentiments, 1759.)Istanbul’s new art epicenter, The Empire Project, located in the heart of Cihangir, has kicked off its 2015-2016 season with the long awaited new show by photography artist Alp Sime.
Setting the stage for the artist’s new works in its new stand, the show is sure to become an important milestone in the career of the iconic photographer. Featuring a selection of brand new works, the exhibit, titled “Under Control and Compassion,” shifts between poignant observations and an ironic sense of humor, leveling the playing field of human interaction in a more and more divisive and polarized atmosphere.
“Once a story conquers a personality it often clashes with what is real and the consequences are commonly tragicomic. This work on the whole is an attempt to translate this notion into a visual form,” said the artist.
Designed with sensitivity and precision and masterfully implemented, the works in the exhibition relay, sometimes directly and sometimes allegorically, the vacuity of the attempt to assert dominance.
Recognized for his interest in the guidance of the subconscious and his dark sense of humor, the artist stimulates the spectator to view these works with a sense of reminiscence.
The exhibition, which opened on Sept. 1, will continue through Sept. 26.
About the artist
Born in 1970, Sime completed his formal education at the Boston University School of Fine Arts in 1996. In 2002 he opened his first solo exhibition named “Ramora.” The series of images he shared, taken during a terrorist attack in 2003, caused heated debate in the media and the art world. During the following years his exhibitions “Istanbullu,” “Parallax” and “Going somewhere?” helped him gain international recognition among prominent art circles.
Known for his interest in the power of the subconscious and his dark sense of humor, the artist sums up his work in the following quote from an interview:
“Once a story conquers a personality it often clashes with what is real and the consequences are commonly tragicomic. This work on the whole is an attempt to translate this notion into visual form.”
About the artist
