Balkan Naci Islimyeli, one of the leading names of our modern art, celebrates his 45th year in the art scene with the “Remember” exhibition which will launch at the same time in the Five Domes and Single Dome Halls of Mimar Sinan Faculty of Fine Arts, Tophane-i Amire Culture and Arts Center. Entitled as “Remember” by İslimyeli in an attempt to remember the experiences and keep them alive in our memories in our rapidly consuming modern day; the exhibition features works that have been produced by the artist in the last 15 years but never been exhibited, together with a selection from his last 30 years. The “Remember” exhibition can be visited between September 20- October 28.
Curated by Erkan Doğanay, the “Remember” exhibition covers a period that can be referred as the second half of Balkan Naci İslimyeli’s artistic adventure. Selection of the “Remember” exhibition consists of works which the artist reserved for the his private collection, and which are authentic for their periods. Placing human and memory in the center of his late-period works just as in his entire portfolio, the artist’s “Remember” exhibition is divided into thematic segments while there isn’t any chronological order to be found. As for the poems and texts of İslimyeli who aims to present all the differences and commonalities clearly in all of his periods, they tend to spread in the entirety of both works and space.
The selection of the “Remember” exhibition which arose from the ambition to regenerate the memory of a society that became nullified by forgetfulness, with the help of a compilation of its own history; reflects the typical preferences of the artist. He believes that it is necessary to present these kinds of reminders for new generations living in a society that changes very rapidly and performs this action by losing itself. The artist states that it’s time to present this accumulation that has never been exhibited before, along with the previous ones.
