Ayla Turan Retrospective opens at İş Sanat

ISTANBUL

The year’s first exhibition at İş Sanat Kibele Art Gallery, “Ayla Turan Retrospective,” opened on Feb. 9 at the gallery’s Levent venue, presenting more than 50 works by sculptor Ayla Turan.

Tracing the artist’s 30-year journey, the show features 56 works produced in materials including marble, bronze, wood and polyester.

Turan described preparing the exhibition as feeling “like flipping through old albums,” reflecting on her selection: “For the past 30 years of my artistic journey, I have always looked ahead. Today, I paused and turned back to see what was left behind. Every emotion is fresh. For the first time, they are all together — my world on my stage. The actors are different, the time is different, but the stage is the same. This exhibition is like taking a breath for what comes next. A deep breath. It is a pause while carrying the testimony of the past into the future and continuing to run. And it is the beginning of continuing to run while bearing witness to history.”

In his text for the exhibition catalogue, Professor Marcus Graf described Turan as an artist who “builds her own path with independence, empathy and calm determination, expanding our understanding of what sculpture can be and what it can reveal about the world we share.” He added: “By bringing together three decades of uninterrupted production, this retrospective makes visible the intimate ties between Ayla Turan’s life and her art.”

The exhibition can be visited free of charge every day between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. at İş Sanat Kibele Art Gallery in Levent until May 11.

The exhibition catalogue is also available at Türkiye İş Bankası Culture Publications bookstores and website, RHM Shop and selected bookstores.

Born in Hamburg in 1973, Turan is an independent artist working internationally. She graduated from the Sculpture Department of Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in Istanbul in 1996.

Approaching everyday objects and figures with a childlike perspective, Turan encourages viewers to look more deeply at what they see and to reflect on a wide range of social issues. Her sculptures are often humorous and dynamic, carrying a constant sense of movement. Although physically still, this feeling of motion is a defining element of her artistic practice.

In her recent works, Turan focuses on children and their world. With a minimalist touch, she explores childhood through the lenses of sociology, theology, psychology and culture. She captures their colorful universe through form and evokes the innocent and pure realm of childhood with smooth white surfaces.

Living and working in Istanbul, Turan’s public sculptures can be seen in Türkiye, Germany, France, Hungary, Israel, Latvia, South Korea, the Dubai International Financial Center, the United States at the Vermont West Rutland Art Park, Egypt, Italy, India, Syria, China, Burkina Faso, Sweden, Mexico and Bahrain.