Art works by Devrim Kadirbeyoglu

Devrim Kadirbeyoglu ˘

www.devrimkadirbeyoglu.com info@devrimkadirbeyoglu.com

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Maid A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Maid is set against the current situation that the artist earns her living as a maid to survive. The focus of the artist’s investigation is to analyze the understanding of “free labour” experienced by young artists as well as house wives, uniting them in distress culturally and socially all around the world.

The video documents the artist cleaning and organizing a flat for the duration of three-months.

Borrowing a scenario from children’s bed time stories, the video begins with a male voice over ‘Once upon a time...’ and the 3:17 minutes video loops endlessly on a TV screen. The famous aria “La donna è mobile” sung by L. Pavarotti from Rigoletto composed by G.Verdi with such verses as “... Always miserable is he who trusts her, he who confides in her his unwary heart!...” accompany the protagonist as she cleans, sweeps, wipes, dusts, makes the beds, scrubs the sinks every day. And the next day she starts over.

The video is part of the artists’ ongoing interrogation of identity and the borders created by its diverse engagement. * Video is available online at: https://vimeo.com/54364129

“A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Maid”. Single channel video on loop. Duration: 03:17 min. © Devrim Kadirbeyoglu 2012

Here and Nowhere Kadirbeyoglu’s Here and Nowhere installation visually depicts the concept of “cocooning” - the contemporary lifestyle where society lives largely isolated inside their own homes or offices. A modern phenomenon perpetuated by the easy access to the reality of the outside world via virtual, nonphysical means, “cocooning” represents a shift in global citizenship. The act of “Cocooning” unites humans behavior unconditionally across invisible boundaries such as economic class and nationality - providing a commonality for understanding or communication. Reversely, this act is counterintuitive to having tangible experiences - including experiencing Art. Kadirbeyoglu’s depiction of this double entendre takes the form of a slow moving snail which travels within the confines of an environment defined by the audience itself. A sticky trail is left behind in the snail’s wake - a testament to its interactions with bumping into physical bodies as it navigates while hidden within its shell. * Project text by Leah Stuhltrager, Curator and Director of Dam, Stuhltrager and The WYE in Berlin, Germany. * Video is available online at: https://vimeo.com/53919430

“Here and Nowhere”. Installation: Polyester, robot, paint. Dimensions of the snail: 60cm X 30cm X 23cm. © Devrim Kadirbeyoglu 2012

Who Draws the Line?

In her site specific Who Draws the Line? series, Kadirbeyoglu places selections of 160 quotes onto large, public floor spaces in cities around the world. The sentences the artist uses in these Public Art installations were each submitted by a different citizen of Turkey to their government’s official Visa Hotline*. The direct (yet anynomous) quotes are laboriously hand stenciled by the artist in light colored earth. The art installations give a public, international platform for voices previously silenced to be heard. The words made of sand are erased with each viewer’s footstep and gust of wind - reflecting personal stories that have been not formally been recorded for generations. * On December 19, 2009 the Economic Development Foundation of Turkey (IKV) opened “Visa Hotline Project”. Two phone lines, email and an office were established to collect complaints by Turkish citizens regarding obtaining Visas. The hotline was the first official avenue opened to voice a complaint and was historic for Turkish citizens. It remains active today.

In early 2011, artist Devrim Kadirbeyoglu began a series of Public Art Installations titled, “Who Draws the Line?”, in association with Zeynep Özler and Melih Özsöz, Senior researchers at the Economic Development Foundation of Turkey (IKV) who oversee the letters for the European Movement International Istanbul Congress. Kadirbeyoglu requested to read the Visa Hotline complaints received November 2009 through January of 2010. During these two months, the hotline received 1177 letters from Turkish citizens all over the world, excerpts of which are used to create art installations by Kadirbeyoglu. * Video of this work is available online at: http://vimeo.com/30307083

“Who Draws the Line?”. Installation: Earth. Dimensions variable. © Devrim Kadirbeyoglu 2011

In Case of Loss, Please Return To: In Case of Loss, Please Return To: is a series of artworks comprised of discarded objects picked up by the artist between 2003 - 2008 from the streets of NYC. While collecting and gathering, Kadirbeyoglu also started recording sounds from the streets which is than used for surrounding the installation.

The jacket, titled “Madame”, comes with simple instructions on how to make your own coat from found gloves. The tallest sculpture, “Monsieur Makkina”, rubs his hands when triggered by a motion sensor. The smaller robot, Jr Makkina, includes an old hand drill mechanism which allows it to be manually cranked. * Video of this work is available online at: http://www.vimeo.com/19750901

“In Case of Loss, Please Return To:”. Installation of recycled materials: water pipes, motor, digital temperature controller, motion sensor, antique hand drill, sewing mannequin, man­nequin hands and found gloves. © Devrim Kadirbeyoglu 2009 “Madame”. Sculpture: found gloves, mannequin. Dimensions: 1.60mX40cmX25cm - 63”X16” X10”. © Devrim Kadirbeyoglu 2009 “Monsieur Makkina”. Sculpture: gloves, water pipes, digital temperature controller, motion sensor.

Dimensions: 1.70mX60cmX40cm - 67”X24”X16”. © Devrim Kadirbeyoglu 2009 “Jr Makkina”, Sculpture: hand drill mechanism, gloves. Dimensions: 1mX30cmX30cm - 39”X12”X12”. © Devrim Kadirbeyoglu 2009

“--------------” “--------------” superimposes two fundamentally different environments with unlike functions on top of each other. Kadirbeyoglu modifies the physical conditions of the exhibition space by covering the concrete floor with a soft pink layer. Like walking on a running track - steps bounce off the floor, sounds are absorbed and con­ centration is directed inward to one’s own body. Markings on the ground indicate the dimensions of a running track, but they have lost their function as landmarks and run against and into walls. * Project text by Kristina Kramer, Curator and director of Polistar in Istanbul,Turkey.

“--------------” Installation: 38 EVA sheets, white tape, fake grass.

Dimensions variable. © Devrim Kadirbeyoglu 2010

Ding Dong Ding Dong is a sound artwork comprised of fictitious recorded public announcements made over a speaker system in an airport. A woman’s voice calls individuals to the “Security Desk”. The names called are of those alive today who have been taken to court or imprisoned for demanding freedom of speech in Turkey. A different name is broadcast every 3 minutes. * A segment of this audio is available online at: http://www.vimeo.com/23112329

“Ding Dong”, Audio installation. Duration: 25:48 min. © Devrim Kadirbeyoglu 2011

Visa Applicants Visa Applicants is a video artwork comprised of candid interviews with over 40 randomly selected Turkish citizens applying for a Visa to Germany. Kadirbeyoglu asks strangers in front of the German Con­sulate in Istanbul questions similar to the Visa Application Form. The respondents are filmed while they hold a glass in front of their mouths to magnify their answers. Personal attention drawn to the subject in the video counterbalances the official Visa procedure - a process where direct contact is avoided, paper represents people and thick glass windows separate an applicant from the interviewer. * Video is available online at: http://www.vimeo.com/23039210

“Visa Applicants”, Single Channel video. Duration: 04:51 min. © Devrim Kadirbeyoglu 2010

EU EU is a sculpture which consists of 27 Turkish citizens portraits silk-screened onto cotton puppets. Their faces are only sketched out in a black outline, making them easily recognizable, but at the same time, possibly anonymous.

Kadirbeyoglu’s inspiration for putting the puppets in the symbolically red suitcase, color of the Turkish flag, comes from the childish wish to curl up in a suitcase and being taken, easily, to a faraway place. A childish wish that cannot imagine the actual horrors of the illegal stowaway, attempting to flee to a safer, better place.

“EU”. Sculpture: Silk screened cotton puppets, red suitcase. Dimensions: 68cmX60cmX20cm - 27”X24”X8”. © Devrim Kadirbeyoglu 2009

Gentriwhy In the art installation Gentriwhy, the public is able to gamble on owning a landmark for only 25¢. The artist placed an edition of 200 hand printed, sewed, signed and numbered pillows of historic buildings into a relic arcade crane game to comment on current real estate, market and social issues.

The artist’s pillows are of some of the oldest structures in Williamsburg, Brooklyn - the HSBC Bank building, McCarren Pool and Domino Sugar Factory. These physical monuments symbolize the stolid, rich past of Brooklyn. They also embody the neighborhood’s emerging future as they stand on the verge of demolition. Remnants of past modern ages, these landmarks are cultural icons in the center of public debate about forging ahead in contemporary times and preserving one’s heritage. * Video is available online at: http://vimeo.com/439418

“Gentriwhy”. Installation: Arcade Skill Crane and handmade sculptures of landmarks in Brooklyn, NYC incl HSBC Bank, McCarren Pool, Domino Sugar Factory. Dimensions: 200 cmX98 cmX68 cm - 6’ 1/2”X3’2”X 2’2”. © Devrim Kadirbeyoglu 2008

Unknown Alert viewers investigating a unidentified slamming sound must inherently re-explore what is outwardly perceived as an ordinary column in the gallery space.

By entering into the tower through a narrow threshold, specta­tors found themselves looking up at a long vertical hallway. Confounded by the unusual spatial manipulation, they were then startled by the sound of the door at the top of the tower slamming loudly, leaving the space dark and even more claustrophobic than before. * Video is available online at: http://vimeo.com/235182

“Unknown”. Installation: Drywall, aluminum studs, door, motor, computer. Dimensions: 730 cmX153 cmX153 cm - 24’X5’X5’. © Devrim Kadirbeyoglu 2003

Liminal In the new media installation Liminal, a narrow, wooden bridge leads to an open casket A hidden camera captures any individual traveling up the foot bridge until they enter inside the coffin. Once the person is inside the coffin, the door swings shut and reveals the footage played with a 15 second delay.

The viewer finds her/himself watching their own symbolic death in a claustrophobic setting where they cannot turn their head to look away. * Dedicated to the artist’s stepmother, Josiane-Leïla Perret, who died from throat cancer in Geneva, 2006. * Video is available online at: http://www.vimeo.com/310391

“Liminal”. Installation: wooden bridge, coffin, camera, screen, computer. Dimensions: 201 cmX 231cm X 90 cm 6’ 1/2”X 7’ 1/2”X 3’. © Devrim Kadirbeyoglu 2007

Detritus Forest Detritus Forest is a requiem from/for what has already lived: Evergreens raised to be adorned, go out of fashion, die and be disposed of. A luscious (yet deceased) inverted forest of discarded Christmas pines swing softly- a poetic symbol for consumption.

Detouring from most political art, Detritus Forest does not assign judgement. Instead, it evokes the viewer to question his/her own involvement in an undeniable environmental problem. Composed from by-product of the environmental issue itself, not purchased mediums, this installation questions what we use as materialists, leaving view­er to evaluate actions, surroundings and priorities. * Project text by Leah Stuhltrager, Curator and Director of Dam, Stuhltrager and The WYE in Berlin, Germany. * Video of this work is available online at: http://vimeo.com/647457

“Detritus Forest”. Installation: 28 Retail Size Christmas Trees.

Dimensions:Variable. © Devrim Kadirbeyoglu 2007

Immigration Confronted with the tedious and tumultuous process to stay in the United States as a citizen of Turkey, Kadirbeyoglu started Xeroxing the photograph from her American Visa. After making hundreds of b/w copies of her passport image on regular photocopy paper, the artist soaked each legal sized page in slip clay (liquid form of clay), dried and put them in a kiln. After firing, the clay pieces were peeled from the air pockets that formed when the artist’s paper image burnt out during the process. The result is a faint image of the artist’s Visa photograph left imprinted on fragile thin sheets of clay which crumble when touched. In the installation Immigration, these hundreds of pieces representing one individual are laid out on a stainless steel table to mimic a customs gateway. The continuous sound of passports being stamped is played in the background. * Video is available online at: http://vimeo.com/233636

“Immigration”, Installation: Paper-clay photographs, stainless steel desk, sound.

Dimensions: Stainless Steel table152 cm X121 cmX 61 cm - 5’ X 4’ X 2’. © Devrim Kadirbeyoglu 2002

Statement

I grew up in Istanbul in the wake of the 1980 military coup, a time when hundreds of thousands of intellectuals were killed, imprisoned, or driven into exile. My mother was taken from home and imprisoned twice during my childhood, and this turmoil is written into my name – Devrim means “revolution.”The threat of death was real in the politically and ideologically charged environment in which I spent my youth, forcing me to pay close attention to what was going on around me.

Cycles of suffering and the fear of death formed the basis on which I would begin to question my identity, society, and culture.The use of language was heavily circumscribed first by the right wing political leadership, later by the forces of political Islam that replaced it, while the imminence of loss lent an urgency to the search for new modes of expression and methods of synthesis.

In my early twenties I migrated to the United States to attend the Studio for Interrelated Media in Boston. I broadened my medium from clay to wood, metals, and new media. Meanwhile I became fascinated by context and otherness. A “resident alien,” I began to witness the multiplication of my own selfhood. I began to see otherness not as a romantic mirror of the self, but as an invitation to escape the cage of individuality.

After my studies I spent five years in New York, working 9 to 5 at a large corporation in midtown Manhattan that produces carpets. It was alarming to see the production of exactly these objects – deeply associated with traditional craftsmanship, family, and the role of women in Turkey – ripped from their context and given up to the service of profit.

I began to use biproducts of the cultivated cravings inherent in consumerism into my artwork, as well. I wandered the city collecting discarded christmas trees, lost gloves, that would form the basis of my installations.

I began to see reproduction and repetition, the multiplication of objects, as a means of undermining hierarchical relations between them. My artwork is an attempt to reposition production as a theatrical extension of daily life, with the threads of my own experience as material.

Bio

Devrim Kadirbeyoglu was born in Istanbul in 1978 and studied fine arts at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. In 2003, she earned an MFA from the Studio For Interrelated Media at Massachusetts College of Art in Boston.

She has exhibited widely in Turkey, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the U.S.A. She returned to Turkey in 2009 as an artist-in-residence at Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center in Istanbul. She made her first solo shows in 2008 in New York with Dam, Stuhltrager Gallery and in 2010, at Barraca in The Hague, and at ALANIstanbul.

Her work investigates identity within the context of culture, tradition, gender, class, and the meaning of home. Her exhibits are often process oriented, using irony to investigate the institutional structures and complex systems that govern contemporary society.

Solo exhibitions 2011 Archiviazioni. Curated by Giusy Checola. Lecce, Italy 2010 ALANistanbul. Istanbul, Turkey 2010 Baracca. Den Haag, Netherlands 2008 Dam, Stuhltrager Gallery. ‘On Its Head’. New York, U.S.A Group exhibitions

2012

International Migrants Day Film Festival. Bogazici University, Mithat Alam Film Center. Istanbul, Turkey ‘The One’. Dino Morra Arte Contemporanea. Napels, Italy Istanbul Contemporary Art Fair. Galleria Paola Verrengia. Istanbul, Turkey Dino Morra Arte Contemporanea. ‘The Others’. Torino, Italy Cezayir. Art of Migration. Istanbul, Turkey Goethe-Institut. Istanbul, Turkey Empire Projects. ‘Time Keeper’ Curated by Leah Stuhltrager. Istanbul, Turkey Kabine Nadire. ‘Azami Yuk’. Istanbul, Turkey

2011

Archivio dell’Architettura Contemporanea. L’intervallo necessario. Artisti in dialogo con Gillo Dorfles. Curated by Antonello Tolve and Stefania Zuliani. Salerno, Italy Archiviazioni at IN/OUT and Artissima Lido DOC, Artissima 18. Turin, Italy Archiviazioni. The Wall (archives) #4. A project by Pietro Gaglianò in collaboration with Archiviazioni. Lecce, Italy Garaj Istanbul and De Velinx presents ÇOK. Collaboration with dancer/choreographer Ayse Orhon. Istanbul, Turkey and Tongeren, Belgium

2010

26 cc. Prevenire La Cura with Giusy Checola. Rome, Italy UNDERDOX. Through September 30 – October 6. Munich, Germany video_dumbo. Dumbo Arts Center. Curated by Caspar Stracke and Gabriela Monroy. New York, U.S.A Convento di San Filippo Neri. ‘Gratis, Et Amore Artis’. Curated by Antonello Tolve. Salerno, Italy Macka Sanat. ‘Merhaba Fureya Merhaba’. Istanbul, Turkey Kasa Galeri. 10th Year Anniversary, Book Launch & Exhibition. Istanbul, Turkey Manzara Perspectives. ‘The Outer Edge of Inside’. Istanbul, Turkey The EAST/WEST Project. ‘the New new’. Berlin, Germany

2009

Le CentrePasquArt. ‘Seriously Ironic: Positions in Turkish Contemporary Art Scene’. Bien, Bielle, Switzerland Kasa Galeri. ‘Getting Even’. Curated by Isin Onol. Istanbul, Turkey

Bridge Art Fair. Represented by Emmanuel Fremin Gallery. New York, U.S.A

2008

Hafriyat. ‘Urban Jealousy’ 1st International Roaming Biennial of Tehran. Istanbul & Berlin Flux Factory. ‘New York, New York, New York’. New York, U.S.A

2007

Istanbul International Contemporary Art Fair. TersHane. Istanbul, Turkey TersHane. ‘Biennial Parallel’. Istanbul, Turkey TersHane. ‘Factory Days II’. Istanbul, Turkey

2006

3rd Ward. A night of Videos for Loft-n-Space. NY, U.S.A 2004 The Brooklyn Society For Ethical Culture. New York, U.S.A 2003 Judi Rotenberg Gallery. Boston, U.S.A Stephen D. Paine Gallery. Boston, U.S.A 2002 Huntington Gallery. Boston, U.S.A The Brant Gallery. Boston, U.S.A 2001 Student Life Gallery. Boston, U.S.A Huntington Gallery. Boston, U.S.A 2000 Canakkale Art Gallery. Canakkale, Turkey Osman Hamdi Exhibition Space. Mimar Sinan University, Fine Arts Faculty. Istanbul, Turkey Turkish Ceramics Association. Izmir, Turkey Izmir Rotary Club. Izmir, Turkey Seramitek. Istanbul, Turkey 1999 Academy of Fine Arts, Architecture & Design. Prague, Czech Republic Seramitek. Istanbul, Turkey Residencies 2011 Dam, Stuhltrager. Berlin, Germany 2011 Archiviazioni. Lecce, Italy 2009 Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center. Istanbul, Turkey 1999 Academy of Fine Arts, Architecture & Design. Prague, Czech Repulic Awards 2000 Izmir Rotary Club 6th Golden Tray.Youth Award. Izmir, Turkey 2000 Turkish Ceramics Association. Izmir, Turkey

Education 2000-2003 Massachusetts College of Art: MFA in Studio For Interrelated Media (SIM). Boston, USA 1996-2000 Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University: BFA in Ceramics & Glass. Istanbul, Turkey Publications 2012 The Istanbul Guide / Magazine. Art Conquers All: A Contemporary Istanbul 2012 Review. November 2012 ‘The Others’. Dino Morra Arte Contemporanea. Torino, Italy. Exhibition catalog, p. 4, 5, 25 (image published) Acik Radyo / Radio Station. Interview. April 1st, 2012 Radio Papesse / Radio Station. Interview on ‘Who Draws the Line?’. April 3rd, 2012 2011 Salento Web TV. Interview with Andrea Novembre. September 25th, 2011.

La Repubblica. Marino, Antonella. September 24th, 2011. page XIX (images published) Quisalento. Raho,Valeria. September 2011. page 58 Il Paese Nuovo. CM. September 24th, 2011. page1,12 (images published) Il Paese Nuovo. Perrone, Gioia. September 28th, 2011. page 9 (images published) La Gazetta Del Mezzogiorno. September 24th, 2011. page XVI 2010 Guide / Magazine. November 2010 6 NEWS / TV. Interview with Eugenia Moroz. October 2010 Ekavart / Online TV. October 2010 Todays Zaman / Newspaper. Interview with Rumeysa Kiger. October 12th, 2010 (images published) Cumhuriyet Gazetesi / Newspaper. Interview with Sinem Donmez. October 3rd, 2010. Culture & Arts Section (images pub.)

Vogue Turkey / Magazine. Interview with Hande Oynar. October 2010 (images published) Harper’s Bazaar. Interview with Sebnem Kirmaci. October 2010 (images published) Tasarim / Architecture, Interior Design, Urban Design and the Arts Magazine. October 2010 (images published) Travel & Leisure / Magazine. Interview with Zeynep Erekli. October 2010 (images published) Istanbul Life / Magazine. Interview with Sami Ozbudak. October 2010 (images published) Time Out – Istanbul / Magazine. Critics Picks. October 2010 (images published) Hurriyet Daily News / Newspaper. September 27th, 2010 (image published) Renkli Anlar / TRT Radio 1 Station. Interview with Zehra Karabel. October 15th, 2010 10th Year Anniversary at Kasa Galeri, February 2010 (image published)

2009 Arte e Critica 59. Art Magazine published in Rome. June 2009. p. 60 (image published) ‘Seriously Ironic: Positions in Turkish Contemporary Art Scene’. Le CentrePasquArt exhibition catalog, p. 56 – 59 Sabah Gazetesi/Newspaper. ‘Turkish Art in Switzerland’ June 28, 2009 Sabah Gazetesi/Newspaper, Arts&Culture Section, ‘Kasa Gallery hosts young Middle Eastern artists’. May 19, 2009 (images pub.)

Radikal Gazetesi / Newspaper. May 29, 2009. (image published) Semtonline.com / Art and Culture Blog. May 2009 (image published) todayszaman.com / E-Newspaper. June 10, 2009 (image published) ‘Etrafta.’ Art and Culture Blog. Guney, Boran. January 2009 (image published) 2008 Emadi, Leyla. ‘Eve Art’ Eve Magazine, June 2008 (images published) Kalm, James. ‘Critic’s Pick’ Wagmag. ‘Detritus Forest’. Review, January 28, 2008, p.3. (image published) Flux Factory, NYNYNY exhibition catalog, p.23. (images published) 2007 Tunuslu, Zeynep. ‘In Fashion’ ATA TV. Interview, December 23, 2007 TersHane, Biennial Parallel exhibition catalog, p.15,16,17,18. (images published) Contemporary Istanbul exhibition catalog, p.135. (image published) Drew, Ebru. ‘4 Days, Not Enough’ Vatan Gazetesi / Newspaper. Review on ‘Liminal’. December 3, 2007. Lifestyle Section.

Donmez, Sinem. ‘Liminal at Istanbul Contemporary’ Cumhuriyet Gazetesi, / Newspaper. Interview, December 1, 2007, p.3. (images published) Evrensel Gazetesi / Newspaper, December 1, 2007, Arts & Culture Section, p.12. (image published) Aydin, Nur. ‘Afis’ CNN Turk. Interview on ‘Liminal’. November 30, 2007 Acik Radyo / Radio Station. Announcement on ‘Liminal’. November 29, 2007. Arts & Culture Section.

Saglam, Eraslan. ‘Acik Dergi Program’ Acik Radyo / Radio Station. Interview on Biennial Parallel. September 7, 2007 2006 Uluc, Hincal. ‘Let’s all go to the Fair’ Sabah Gazetesi / Newspaper, December 23, 2006, p.21.

2003 MFA Graduate exhibition catalog, p.26, 27. (images published) 2000 Seramik. Art, Science & Technology Magazine. August/September Issue 2000, p.36 (image published) Izmir Rotary Club 6th Golden Tray exhibition catalog, p.8. (image published)