Alex Cerveny says the exhibition emerged from a research process initiated after Zeyrek Çinili Hamam invited him to Istanbul. (AA Photo)
Brazilian artist Alex Cerveny’s first solo exhibition in Türkiye, “Atlas of Encounters,” opens Sept. 24 at the Byzantine Cistern beneath Istanbul’s Zeyrek Çinili Hamam, bringing together more than 30 works that explore connections between astronomy, architecture, the city and the body.
Curated by Anlam de Coster, the exhibition combines newly commissioned works with previously unseen pieces created following Cerveny’s first visit to Istanbul. The works include paintings on canvas, parchment sculptures, embroideries on traditional towels, and interventions on historical manuscripts and engravings.
The exhibition’s central body of work, the “Astronomy Notebook” series, began after Cerveny discovered pages from two Ottoman astronomy compendia in a vintage bookshop in Istanbul in 2009. During his stay in Pera, the artist intervened directly on pages containing Ottoman Turkish and Persian scientific texts, layering new constellations of images over astronomical diagrams and fragments of writing.
A major new work in the exhibition is Cerveny’s intervention on a facsimile of an Istanbul engraving by Dutch artist and traveler Cornelis de Bruijn, based on an original copy from Cerveny’s personal collection.
The artist has also produced three new oil paintings centered on the Bosphorus, incorporating symbols and calligraphic elements characteristic of his practice.
“Atlas of Encounters consists of new works that emerged during my time here. This is my first trip to Türkiye. I am extremely happy to have the opportunity to exhibit works inspired by this place that have never been shown before,” Cerveny told Anadolu Agency.
Cerveny said the exhibition emerged from a research process initiated after Zeyrek Çinili Hamam invited him to Istanbul.
The works are installed throughout the cistern like pages of a book. Cerveny described the underground space as an ideal setting for his reflections, noting the relationship between the site’s history and his exploration of the connections between body and mind.
De Coster, artistic director and curator of Çinili Hamam, said Cerveny approaches historical documents not as fixed carriers of information but as permeable structures capable of containing different systems of knowledge at the same time.
“Astronomical diagrams, manuscripts and urban records are transformed into new compositions in which scientific knowledge becomes intertwined with personal memory and imagination,” de Coster said.
The exhibition also establishes a dialogue with the historical legacy of the site. Commissioned by Grand Admiral Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha and designed by Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan, the 16th-century hammam belongs to a world in which astronomy played a role in navigation and structures of power.
Recently uncovered ship graffiti on the walls of the cistern, attributed to galley slaves associated with Barbaros, also forms part of the site’s layered history and resonates with Cerveny’s practice of placing new images and meanings over historical surfaces.
Born in São Paulo in 1963, Cerveny is known for combining history, mythology, literature and autobiography in his work. His art has been exhibited at institutions including Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, the Gwangju Biennale, Pinacoteca de São Paulo and Moderna Museet in Stockholm.
“Atlas of Encounters” is the sixth project in Zeyrek Çinili Hamam’s contemporary art program. The exhibition will remain on view through Jan. 31, 2027. Admission is free.
