AUTUMN ART EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTS
Autumn marks a busy time in the art city’s art scene. As September draws closer, art galleries start unveiling their exhibition programs, promising to bring a big smile to the faces of art lovers. Let’s take a look at the must-see exhibitions in Istanbul and the nearby cities of Tekirdağ and Bursa!
Neural Crest of an Island 3 September–6 October 2024
İnci Eviner’s second solo exhibition at Dirimart Pera, Neural Crest of an Island, seeks to decipher the codes of power through a video work that portrays an awry fantasy world inspired by Hayırsızada, an island in the Sea of Marmara where a notorious dog massacre occurred in the early 20th century. The exhibition delves into the social and psychic layers of an island, and in her new installation, Resound of the Studio, Eviner confronts her personal process of becoming as she blends scenarios where remaining objects from her previous artworks—those that had not found their place before—multiply with new meanings, forming a revival of her studio at the gallery space.
Humid Blue / 5 September–12 October 2024
In her debut exhibition at OG Gallery, Defne Cemal invites us to observe the shifts in perception as the color intensity varies by interpretation. This solo exhibition with the title Humid Blue focuses on the fundamental elements of painting—light, color, form, and surface. She often hones in on a single hue and gradually blends semi-transparent pigment layers, enhancing the vibration and depth within her paintings, creating a sense of continuous movement.
Chiharu Shiota: Between Worlds / 6 September 2024–20 April 2025
On a September day dedicated to art, you can immerse yourself in thoughts at the exhibition Chiharu Shiota: Between Worlds, curated by Öykü Özsoy Sağnak and Yazın Öztürk, at İstanbul Modern. Shiota’s large-scale installation, created site-specific for İstanbul Modern, meets with the audience as part of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations Centenary between Japan and Türkiye. The Japanese artist delves into the profound themes of memory and existence—subjects she frequently explores through diverse mediums such as performance, video, installation, and painting. Her unique perspective traces the concepts of migration, journey, and human experience.
Sense of Place / 14 September – 13 November 2024
The first exhibition of Barbare Studio, a new platform launched within Barbare Bağları, welcomes visitors during the grape harvest season, celebrated with festivities. Curated by T. Melis Golar, Sense of Place aims to capture and evoke all the elements that give spirit to the vineyard in Tekirdağ. As the inaugural segment of the guest artist and curator program, the exhibition features work by artists Dilşad Aladağ, Valentina Bacci, Serra Bilgincan, Dilan Bozer, Didem Erk, Berkay Kahvecioğlu, Murat Kahya, Milo Kester, Lalin Mercan, Rhian Harris Mussi, Sam Nicholson, Büşra Özdemir, Furkan Öztekin, Arthur Rabut, Eda Şarman, Cengiz Tekin, and Murat Yıldız.
Naked City / 14 September 2024–17 August 2025
Borusan Contemporary kicks off the new culture and arts season with Naked City, a site-specific installation by multidisciplinary artist Doug Aitken in his first-ever exhibition in Türkiye. Curated by Jérôme Sans, this monographic exhibition at Perili Köşk features a selection of the American artist’s works from 2007 to the present. Focusing on urban landscapes, his immersive artworks explore the paradoxical isolation created by hyperconnectivity. Simultaneously, the Prélude Eternal exhibition, curated by Dr. Necmi Sönmez, presents a selection from the Borusan Contemporary Art Collection at Perili Köşk.
2.5B / 21 September–6 December 2024
Curated by Murat Germen and presented under the title 2.5B at YUNT, the exhibition invites you to explore a “two-and-a-half-dimensional” universe—a representational method that exists between two and three dimensions. Artists Gizem Çeşmeci, Semih Zeki, Nermin Er, Gökçen Ataman, Nora Byrne, and Tanzer Arığ redefine the boundaries of materiality through gestures and interventions such as deepening and embossing while visualizing architectural sections and details related to everyday life. The exhibition encourages viewers to simultaneously contemplate the production of space, the designed space, and the lived space.
And Red / 2 October–3 November 2024
In its third year, Decollage Art Space starts the new art season with Professor Fevzi Karakoç’s exhibition And Red, curated by Serap Atala. In this collection commissioned by the gallery, the dominant color is an energetic and powerful red, reflecting the vibrant style of Karakoç, a prominent figure in printmaking. Not aligned with any specific art movement, these artworks feature abstract, chaotic backgrounds with rich visual textures. The recurring imagery of horses evokes a strong sense of independence.
No point in saying you are in the desert / 12 October 2024–11 January 2025
Burak Kabadayı’s solo exhibition, No Point in Saying You Are in the Desert, curated by Deniz Kırkalı at Bursalı İMALAT-HANE, draws on natural phenomena of reflection and mirage. The artist calls us to question the boundaries of knowing and seeing with this site-specific installation. Featuring three new video works produced with the support of İMALAT-HANE, the exhibition closely examines the material relationship between the desert and glass using light, pattern video, and sound. The exhibition emphasizes that knowledge can only be conceived in a manner unique to each medium and is shaped by our perceptual habits.
