ISTANBUL — Unpredictable weather means winter isn’t the most popular season for visiting Istanbul, but it is a great time for gallery-hopping: Many of the best museums and art spaces in the Beyoglu district have just opened compelling new exhibitions.
At Arter, the curator Emre Baykal has gathered mostly new works by Turkish artists to create the second installment of “Envy, Enmity, Embarrassment.” Here, the artist known as Canan presents the installation, “I beg you please do not speak to me of love,” a room plastered with erotic movie posters from the heyday of the Yesilcam porn industry of the 1970s. In a transparent case in one corner of the room is a seemingly innocent white bathrobe. Embroidered on its back is a suicide note.
Other interesting works include “Twin Goddess: The Sketch of an Encounter,” an embroidered collage by Nilbar Gures using ancient symbols from Anatolian archaeology, and “The Island” by Hera Buyuktasciyan, a look at taboos swept under the rug.
The most powerful piece in this show is Hale Tenger’s “I Know People Like This III.” Visitors who enter the gallery from Istiklal Caddesi walk through this chronological maze of x-ray prints, a sort of light-box labyrinth, that lays out traumatic images from Turkish political history, including public protests, the killing of journalists and scenes of violence that followed the 1980 military coup.
On the parallel street, Mesrutiyet Caddesi, the Pera Museum has just opened a double-barreled program. A retrospective of the works of the Hungarian-American photographer Nickolas Muray covers the dashing man-about-town’s early black-and-white art nudes as well as his color-saturated portraits of beauties like Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and a woman he adored, Frida Kahlo. On another floor, “Between Desert and Sea” presents a selection of 52 works from the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, pieces that speak to topical issues like religion, the rights of women, and the impact of the Arab Spring revolutions.
At the Salt Galata, a 10-minute stroll away on Bankalar Caddesi, “1 + 8″ is an installation of large-screen videos by Cynthia Madansky and Angelika Brudniak, who traveled to the borders between Turkey and its eight neighbors: Greece, Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, Nakchivan, Iran, Iraq and Syria to tape local residents talking about their daily lives and hopes. In the case of Iran, just a black screen is shown: The artists were refused permission to film in Iran, but they managed to record audio of Iranians who had crossed into Turkey for personal or business reasons. None felt safe having their faces shown.
IHT Rendezvous: Gallery Stroll: Istanbul
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IHT Rendezvous: Gallery Stroll: Istanbul
