‘Beneath the Same Blue’ exhibition opens at Istanbul Modern

ISTANBUL

The exhibition brings together works by artists from Türkiye and around the world, tracing the transformation of modern and contemporary art in Türkiye from the 1940s to the present.

Istanbul Modern’s 10th collection exhibition, “Beneath the Same Blue,” opened to visitors at the Dr. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı Collection Gallery.

Bringing together works by artists who have produced art in different geographies and periods in Türkiye and around the world, the exhibition explores the transformation of modern and contemporary art in Türkiye since the 1940s. It also offers new ways of interpreting the museum’s collection through encounters and dialogues with international artists, particularly in works acquired since the 2000s.

Istanbul Modern Artistic Director Çelenk Bafra told state-run Anadolu Agency that 230 works by 119 artists are featured in the exhibition.

“With the exhibition, Istanbul Modern interprets the collection it has built since the museum’s establishment through a new curatorial approach. Taking its name from the color blue, which connects different times, places and experiences, the exhibition brings together works produced in different periods and contexts on a common ground,” Bafra said.

“Blue, evoking seas, horizons, dreams, freedom, distances and encounters, forms the inclusive framework of the exhibition,” she added.

Bafra said the exhibition approaches museum collections as intellectual structures that reveal how an institution reads its past, interprets the present and imagines the future.

“Without entirely abandoning the chronological narrative of art history, ‘Beneath the Same Blue’ consists of sections that bring historical continuity and thematic readings together within the same framework,” she said.

According to Bafra, the exhibition examines the transformation of art from the 1940s to the present through two main sections.

“The first section examines the development of modern and contemporary art in Türkiye from the 1940s to the 2000s through a historical progression. It presents a broad panorama ranging from early examples of abstract art and different forms of figurative expression to artists’ changing aesthetic approaches and social and cultural transformations,” she said.

“The second section brings together a selection of post-2000 works by artists from different generations and geographies under thematic headings, addressing contemporary issues through diverse artistic practices.”

Works to be shown for the first time

More than 40 works from the museum’s collection are being exhibited publicly for the first time.

The exhibition features a broad selection of works added to the Istanbul Modern Art Museum Collection through the Women Artists Fund, including Fatoş İrwen’s “Rosa,” Yaşam Şaşmazer’s “Taming the Darkness,” Aslı Çavuşoğlu’s “ANNEX,” Candeğer Furtun’s “Applause” and Burçak Bingöl’s “Hatayi.”

Works by artists including Antonis Donef, Julie Mehretu, Elif Uras, Attila Galatalı, Mirak Jamal and Gülsün Karamustafa are also being presented to visitors for the first time.

The collection exhibition also features works by some of Türkiye’s leading figures in photography.

Among them are Ersin Alok, who brought an interdisciplinary approach to photography culture in Türkiye; Ara Güler, who was awarded the title of “Master of Leica” in 1962; Yıldız Moran, the first woman photographer in Türkiye to receive academic training in photography; and Sedat Pakay.

Through painting, video, photography, sculpture and installation, the exhibition addresses contemporary issues including abstraction, the figure and body, identity, the city and space, migration, war, memory and nature.

Each section invites visitors to move through layers of historical and contemporary art via selections that highlight the aesthetic and intellectual atmosphere of specific periods.

The exhibition also features works by Abidin Dino, Refik Anadol, Erol Akyavaş, Balkan Naci İslimyeli, Burhan Doğançay, Nuri İyem, Ömer Uluç, Lee Bul, Zhan Wang, Mandy El-Sayegh, Richard Wentworth and Georg Baselitz.