AnOtherWoman: Group Exhibition

Galeri Zilberman is pleased to present “AnOtherWoman”, a group exhibition on gender politics and the representation of female identity.

Ipek Duben’s photographs from her seminal body of work “ Manuscript”, 1994 provide the conceptual framework for the exhibition. Arguably the first Turkish female artist to use her own “body” as a pattern for her paintings and photographs, in response to the taboo surrounding the nude in Islamic art and tradition, Ipek Duben’ practice challenges stereotypes, deconstructs myths and negotiates the East and West problematic. Her work is a quest for self-knowledge and a self-definition and holds a singular position in feminist discourse.

Özlem Şimşek stages herself after representations of women in well-known Turkish paintings, executed by male painters, to shed light to the hegemonic systems of representation and ultimately challenge the male gaze. Similarly, Burçak Bingöl’s meticulously drawn self-portrait returns the viewer’s gaze and mirrors the duality of a modern Turkish woman divided between the tradition of the East and the experience of the West. Zeynep Kayan’s photography explores the limitless possibilities of the medium in relation to portraiture and performance. Through a combination of technique and chance, the artist articulates a personal vocabulary of mystical desire, existential angst and confluent counter-narratives.

Defining the self in relation to ‘the other’ is central to the work of Eşref Yıldırım. “Şeyda” is a portrait of a murdered transvestite. Yıldırım is fascinated by the representation of it in the tabloid press and he deconstructs the face of her through violent layers of paint and the application of newspaper debris on the painting surface. The result is a haunting homage to a man who aspired to live a life as woman.

Zeren Göktan’s arresting images convey a number of symbolic meanings, but they also offer a range of possibilities and open-ended interpreatations