Genco Gülan > SURNAME @ Gallery Artist BERLIN

Genco Gülan > SURNAME @ Galeri Artist BERLIN
19 January - 19 February 2010. Opening at 19th at 19:00
Conceptual artist Genco Gülan will be exhibiting his new series called “Surname” for the first time in a gallery setting at Gallery Artist BERLIN. The metallic, figurative, portable sculptures have been previewed at the 32. Accente Festival Duisburg last spring with a large crowd of people/ devices carrying and performing them. For example; A helium balloon flied a metallic bird over Konig Platz while a young Shahzade figure travelled in the city on the top of an Audi. In Berlin sculptures will be exhibited with the performance documentations.
Surname has two meanings in two languages. Firstly it means “a second name which is added to a first one.” Another word that carries the same letters, in the same order but with a different pronunciation in Ottoman Language refers to: “a miniature painting book, depicting the festivals of the Ottoman Empire. For the project Gulan studied the tradition of oriental (Ottoman, Islamic) miniature making (16th to 18. the century) mainly from Surname’s and chose 41 figures to re-embody. Than the artist carved these figures back to life, using the computer aided (laser, water jet etc) technologies from iron, steel and copper. Than he produced compound structures (from metal, carbon, metal) that are strong and light at the same time; light enough to be carried with or exhibited on people and strong enough to survive.
While building the pieces, Gulan tried to bring a new approach to sculpture making with a reference to medieval Ottoman performing and visual arts. In those fests -that also relate witch ancient Dyonisos fests- Ottoman people used to carry/ fly/ swim large size visual objects. Gulan tried to revitalize and put them back to move with a contemporary approach. He travelled back from 3D to 2D and again back to 3D.
He studied and remembered that in the old times the nakkashs (miniature makers) were using metallic templates to draw figures to multiply the books. Furthermore as Eastern miniatures that lack perspective in the classical sense, a line of sculptures (maybe like Kara Walker's cut-outs) have been developed with a lack of 3rd dimension (in classical sense). A series of flat, metallic sculptures, light enough to be carried by a person or two has been be created. These human size sculptures remind us of large templates that are good enough to bring these fests back to life, from 2D back to 3D and than 2D again. And when people carried the templates they have remembered the weight of history on their back again.

This project is co-produced by Duisburger Akzente Festival.

GALERIARTIST BERLIN Director: Hesam Ayat
Fasanenstraße 68 - 10719 Berlin Germany Tel: 0049(0)30.88921291/ Fax: 0049(0)30.88921292 / Mobil: 0049.(0)178.8151229 [email protected] / [email protected]