Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen presents two sprawling installations by Banu Cennetoğlu
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Thursday, October 31, 2024


Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen presents two sprawling installations by Banu Cennetoğlu
Banu Cennetoğlu, 2019, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfahlen. Photo: Achim Kukulies.



DUSSELDORF.- The Istanbul-based artist Banu Cennetoğlu deals with the political, social, and media conditions of contemporary information societies. Her conceptual works question the relationship between the private and the public spheres, as well as the difference between unfiltered information on the one hand and edited news on the other. Every day, decisions are made as to what is published when, how, and in what form, what information becomes news, and what social status the private sphere has. Banu Cennetoğlu points out in each of her works that these are political decisions, regardless of whether they concern the private or the public sphere.

The exhibition focuses on two pieces that are central to her recent work: Since 2010, the artist has archived all available local and national daily newspapers published in a specific country on selected days. The six archives created thus far are presented in the first two rooms: The newspapers from Turkey dated August 20, 2010, from Switzerland dated January 14, 2011, from twenty Arabic-speaking countries dated November 2, 2011, from Cyprus dated June 29, 2012, from the United Kingdom and the Channel Islands dated September 4, 2014, and from Germany dated August 11, 2015. These newspapers may be carefully leafed through and read. In the comparison of the respective archives and the individual newspapers, it is not only possible to observe how the number of daily newspapers differs from country to country, but also how differently and multi-voiced — or not multi-voiced — events are covered by the press.

The film in the third room is also an archive: “1 January 1970 – 21 March 2018 · H O W B E I T · Guilty feet have got no rhythm · Keçiboynuzu · AS IS · MurMur · I measure every grief I meet · Taq u Raq · A piercing Comfort it affords · Stitch · Made in Fall · Yes. But. We had a golden heart. · One day soon I'm gonna tell the moon about the crying game” (2018). As an archive, however, this multi-titled work differs greatly from the newspaper collections in terms of content, ordering, and form of presentation: All photos and videos stored on hard drives, cameras, and cell phones between June 10, 2006 and March 21, 2018 are shown in chronological order. The period begins with two decisive events for the life and work of the artist, namely the pregnancy with her daughter and the beginning of Cennetoğlu’s facilitation of the public circulation of UNITED for Intercultural Action’s List — a growing document that traces information related to the deaths of migrants within or on the borders of Europe since 1993.

The film installation brings together the artist’s own photos and videos, as well as visual data from other sources and authors. Images created in connection with exhibition projects or research are presented side-by-side with snapshots from her private life and contrasted with socio-political events in Turkey and abroad, which Cennetoğlu follows critically. The images gradually form an unsparing and intimate portrait of the artist and her socialization over these twelve years as reflected in a succession of political developments with farreaching repercussions. The screening lasts 127 hours, fourteen minutes, and forty-four seconds or 22 exhibition days.

While these two proliferate collections testify to the impossibility of completeness, the two interventions in the middle space that are related to the institutional architecture pose the question of the subjective and psychological conditions of information processing: Twentythree mylar balloons form the phrase “Ich weiss zwar, aber dennoch” (“I know very well but nevertheless”). It refers to the psychological phenomenon of denial as formulated by the French psychoanalyst and ethnologist Octave Mannoni after Sigmund Freud. The sentence “Je sais bien, mais quand même” describes the conscious disavowal of facts of which we are aware, but which do not form the basis of our actions. The sentence is directly linked to the newspaper project, which reveals how comprehensively people are informed in individual countries, as well as to Cennetoğlu’s own working situation between the political and the private spheres. When, over the course of the exhibition, the balloons lose helium, the chain of letters falls apart. The sentence dissipates and thus negates itself.

“‘A problematic’ triad?: Yellow Red Green” (2015/19) is a site-specific intervention in which, over the last few years, Banu Cennetoğlu has inserted the color combination of yellow, red, and green in the given structures of various exhibition situations and institutional contexts. For K21, she developed a version in which the upper segments of the windows in the central room have been airbrushed in yellow, red and green. The triad thus subtly influences the view outside and changes the color mood inside. It is open to a wide variety of interpretations. However, the work draws on the Turkish state’s systematic ban of this particular color combination in the 1990s, as it includes the colors of the Kurdish flag. In this period, the authorities even considered to change the colors of the traffic lights in the Kurdish city of Diyarbakır.

Banu Cennetoğlu was born in Ankara in 1970. She lives and works in Istanbul. Selected solo exhibitions: SculptureCenter, New York (2019); Chisenhale Gallery, London (2018); Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn (2015); Kunsthalle Basel (2011). Selected group exhibitions: Liverpool Biennial (2018); documenta 14, Athens and Kassel (2017); 10th Gwangju Biennial (2014); Manifesta 8, Murcia (2010); 53rd Venice Biennial / Turkish Pavilion (2009).

The film installation “1 January 1970 – 21 March 2018 ...” (2018), with a total length of 127 hours, fourteen minutes, and forty-four seconds, is shown over twenty-two days, daily from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Guest Curator: Anna Goetz










Today's News

July 6, 2019

Gemeentemuseum discovers water lilies under Monet's Wisteria

OPEN's UCCA Dune Art Museum wins 2019 AZ Awards

Exhibition explores the relevance and versatility of the sign 'X' - or cross in Antoni Täpies' work

Paul Destribats: Bibliothèque des Avant-Gardes Part I achieves €8,1 million

The Museum der Moderne Salzburg opens a comprehensive survey of works by Sigalit Landau

Shortlist announced for world's top photography prize

Exhibition explores tea as a muse and its cultural significance throughout the centuries

International interest drives Bertoia's Spring Toy Sale to $1.3 million

Pangolin London opens an exhibition of exquisite new work by Merete Rasmussen

Gemeentemuseum Den Haag opens a small retrospective of the work of Ben Akkerman

Modern Art opens a major exhibition of paintings by Lois Dodd spanning the last six decades of the artist's career

Exhibition of new large scale works by Natasha Law on view at Eleven

Babylon, world wonder and jewel of Iraq's national narrative

Iceland glacier national park named World Heritage site

Mansell's 'Red Five' sets world record price for Williams F1 car

ClampArt opens an exhibition of dramatic, black-and-white photographs by artist Victor Cobo

Espai 13 exhibition series at the Fundació Joan Miró opens Paco Chanivet's 'Interregnum'

Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen presents two sprawling installations by Banu Cennetoğlu

Exclusive art VR experiences openpen to the public at sp[a]ce gallery

Over the Influence opens an exhibition of new works by MeeNa Park

Guy Oliver and Reman Sadani each awarded £25k moving-image commission

Kunsthalle Wien presents Gelatin & Liam Gillick: Stinking Dawn

Canadian artist Vikky Alexander's first retrospective traces her 30 years of photographic investigations

Beaverbrook Art Gallery opens summer exhibitions

Art Marketing 101 - Up your Game!

Marketing Tips for Art Galleries

Ways to Boost Your Child's Creativity




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful