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Contemporary Art from Turkey, Romania and Serbia
Works by Artists in Residence: Presentation 3/2011
KulturKontakt Austria extends a cordial invitation to the opening of an exhibition of works by the artists Olivia Mihalţianu from Romania, Behçet Aktaş from Turkey and Doplgenger (Isidora Ilić and Boško Prostran) from Serbia. The artists are spending three months in Vienna as the guests of KulturKontakt Austria (KKA) in the context of the KKA Artists in Residence scholarship programme.
Vernissage: Tuesday, 6 September 2011, 7 p.m.
Exhibition duration: 7 September – 7 October 2011, Mon. – Fri., 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
ORF Long Night of Museums: 1 October 2011, 6 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Location: Galerie ArtPoint, Universitätsstraße 5, 1010 Vienna
The Romanian artist Olivia Mihalţianu will present her Super 8 film “W*EASTERN”. Aesthetically, the film is oriented towards the genre of the Italo-Western; in terms of content, it makes ironic allusions to developments in the international art scene and to the never-ending power shifts between artists, curators and cultural institutions.
Mihalţianu filmed the scenes in Vienna, Venice and Sofia, working as director, camerawoman and actress rolled into one. She had already experimented with various roles and situations in earlier video works. Mihaltianu has always considered it important to illuminate the role of women in today’s worlds of art and film production. In “W*EASTERN”, she shows how a woman artist sets the rules of the game and uninhibitedly acts according to her own ideas in a harsh environment – which, in Mihalţianu’s opinion, the art scene often is.
The artist duo Doplgenger (Isidora Ilić and Boško Prostran) from Serbia are exhibiting the work “Fragments Untitled #0”, the theme of which is history, responsibility and collective memory. The work shows an empty picture frame and the projection of an archive photograph of the crowd listening to the speech of Slobodan Milošević in Gazimestan in 1989, which represented a turning point in the history of the Balkans. Doplgenger deconstructs this event by cutting out the speaker and adding a quote by James Joyce. The work prompts us to ask about the blanks in written history, about authors, facts and personal memories. It is important to the artists to give the beholder a maximum amount of freedom for associative and subjective thought. Nevertheless, they also question themselves or, one might say, the responsibility of the artist as such, by presenting a text written by a fictitious curator together with the work.
Behçet Aktaş, who hails from Turkey, explores various realities in his works. Against the background of geographic distances and how they are overcome, often by virtual means, he pursues a variety of approaches. In “Homeland” he makes reference to Google Earth, which makes it possible to zoom into almost any spot in the world, but is also a source of errors. To what extent can we trust the images circulating through the World Wide Web? What realities do they convey? Who is behind all the data and the masses of information made available through the WWW and who puts faith in the mechanisms through which that information is provided? In a manner of speaking, Aktaş gives an answer to these questions in his interactive work “Blog Vienna”: On his own Facebook page, he has documented his sojourn in Vienna – but even at Galerie ArtPoint, this work can only be seen by sending Behçet Aktaş a friend request on Facebook.
His other two works get along without virtual space. “Circulation” has to do with a book published in Vienna that Aktaş found in an abandoned Austro-Turkish tobacco factory in Izmir shortly before coming to Austria. By bringing the book to Vienna from Izmir, Aktaş has returned it to its place of origin.
For “Empathy”, Aktaş created his own replicas of Greek and Roman sculptures of Aphrodite/Venus. By presenting the replicas together with the Turkish folksong “Zahidem”, Aktaş calls attention to the traditions and values of both cultures.
THE ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE PROGRAMME
KulturKontakt Austria has invited 13 young artists to spend time in Vienna as Artists in Residence in 2011. During their respective three-month stays in Vienna, these artists are also being given an opportunity to present their works, including new ones created in Vienna, in four exhibitions held at Galerie ArtPoint. KulturKontakt Austria’s Artists in Residence Programme is for artists from Eastern and South Eastern Europe and Turkey, and has been offered since 1992. Since then, more than 5,550 artists have applied and more than 230 of them have participated in the programme. With its Artists in Residence Programme, KulturKontakt Austria enables artists to make contacts and engage in fruitful exchange in the Austrian and international art scenes.
Olivia Mihalţianu
1981, born in Bucharest, Romania
http://artmiles.net/
Education
University of Fine Arts, Bucharest
2004-2007 Master in Visual Art
2000-2004 Bachelor in Photo-Video-Computer Processing Image
Exhibitions (selection)
2011
Situated Knowledge: I follow rivers of thoughts, IRRCU, Venice, Italy
Communism never happened, east by south west, curated by Ami Barak, Charim Galerie, Vienna, Austria
Twist, 91mQ Art project space, Berlin, Germany
2010
Police the Police, 4th Young Artists' Biennial Bucharest, Romania
Social Cooking Romania, Contemporary Art Gallery, Brukenthal Museum, Sibiu, Romania
Where do we go from here?, Secession, Vienna, Austria
The Knot, The Promised City, Berlin/Bucharest, Germany/Romania
Alpine Show, National Dance Center Bucharest, Romania
2009
Wakefield Meadows, Pavlion Unicredit, Bucharest, Romania
die welten neuzumachen, The Evangelical Church, Sibiu, Romania
Shifting identities, Romanian Cultural Institute, Prague, Czech Republic
2008
Transfer II, Schafhof-Europaisches Künstlerhaus Oberbayern, Freising, Germany
Anyone But Me, Anywere But Here, Contemporary Art Gallery, Brukenthal Museum, Sibiu, Romania
Re-Constuction, 3rd Young Artists' Biennial Bucharest, Romania
Biennale of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean, Puglia, Italy
Visual Euro-barometer, Maison de l'Europe, Luxemburg
2007
Social Cooking Romania, NGBK, Berlin, Germany
Found Footage, KSAK, Kishnev, Moldova
How to Build a Universe That Does Not Fall apart Two Days Later, Donumenta, Regensburg, Germany
Visual Euro-barometer/Neighbourhood, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Gallery 3/4, Bucharest, Romania
7-OLIVIA, HT003 Gallery, Bucharest, Romania
OverExposures, Art Museum, Timisoara, Romania
FEMiDOM, Galeria Noua, Bucharest, Romania; Gallery Fisk, Bergen, Norway
2006
Her Position In Transition/International Women Art Festival, Vienna, Austria
2004
formate/moving patterns, Kunsthalle, Vienna, Austria
Residences and grants
2011
Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France
KulturKontakt, Vienna, Austria
2010
Gulliver Connect at Mucsarnok Kunsthalle, Budapest, Hungary
2008
Schafhof - Europaisches Künstlerhaus, Oberbayern, Freising, Germany
Openart Residency, Eretria, Greece
2007
Romanian Cultural Institute, Paris, France
Found Footage, KSAK, Kishnev, Moldova
Art Shakes the Politics, S. Lucia del Mela, Italy
Doplgenger
Doplgenger is the artist duo of Isidora Ilić and Boška Prostran, film/video artists. The works of Doplgenger challenge how moving images function and how we look at them. The poetics is focused on questioning of film medium, language, structure and notions of text. Through collaboration and various collective projects Doplgenger has been actively engaged in understanding relevant contemporary issues in their relation to wider social, theoretical and artistic context. Ways in which art participate in creating political reality is the concern of their practice.
Behçet Aktaş
1980, born in Shumen, Bulgaria. Since 1989, he has lived and worked in İzmir, Turkey.
Education
2009 Dokuz Eylül University Institute of Fine Arts, Ceramic and Glass Department (MFA) Turkey
1999-2003 Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Fine Arts, Sculpture Department (BA), Turkey
1995-1999 İzmir Anatolia Fine Art High School Turkey
Awards
2011 KulturKontakt Austria Artist in Residence 201, Wien, Austria
1999 Painting Contest, Jury’s Special Award (Fine Art High Schools), Eskişehir, Turkey
1998 Painting Contest 3rd Award (the Ministry of Environment), İzmir, Turkey
1997 Painting Contest 2nd Award (the Ministry of State), İstanbul, Turkey
1995 İzmir Anatolia Fine Art High School Drawing Contest 2nd Award, İzmir, Turkey
Exhibitions
2011 Artalaçatı Summerfest¬, Alaçatı, İzmir, Turkey
2010 National Contemporary Glass Artists Meeting, Çankaya Municipality Contemporary Art Center, Ankara, Turkey
2010 Exhibition of Puppets with Photographs of Projection of the City, İzmir Art and Sculpture Museum – İnternational Puppet Days, Turkey
2007 Konak Old Inner Port Area Project, Portizmir '07 İnternational Contemporary Art, İzmir, Turkey
2006 Group Sculpture Exhibition, Endora Art Galery, İzmir, Turkey
2003 Group Sculpture Exhibition, Aliağa, İzmir, Turkey
2003 Solo Sculpture Exhibition, the Old Municipal Building, İzmir, Turkey
2002 Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Fine Arts, Sculpture Department Exhibition, İzmir, Turkey
1999 Group Drawing Exhibition, Endora Art Galery, İzmir, Turkey
Workshops
2006 Workshop with the Greek Artist Lita Mavrogeni – Urla, İzmir, Turkey
2003 Workshop with waste material (Söktaş) Söke; Aydın, Turkey
2001 Workshop with the German Artist Thomas P. Kausel, Eylül University Faculty of Fine Arts, İzmir, Turkey
Commissioned Work
2009 Design of Award Scupture, Association of İzmir Journalists
2007 “Corporate Identity Project” of Menderes Provincial Municipality, İzmir, Turkey
Works in Collections
2010 “Baloons”, Murat Vargı’s collections, İstanbul, Turkey
2010 “Innocent Insufficent Intimate”, DEÜ GSF’s collections, İzmir, Turkey
2006 “Camouflage”, Ely Flidis’ collections, İzmir, Turkey
2003 (unnamed), Muharrem Hilmi Kayhan’s collections, Aydın, Turkey
2003 “Tree of Life”, Ayşegül Kurtel’s collections, İzmir, Turkey
COMING SOON
Pavel Braila: Chisinau – City Difficult to Pronounce
The Moldovan artist Pavel Braila was a KKA Artist in Residence in 2001. In October 2011 he will present video works and photographs of Moldova’s capital city Chisinau that he created for Galerie ArtPoint.
Vernissage: Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 p.m.
Exhibition duration: 19 October – 25 November 2011
Location: Galerie ArtPoint, Universitätsstraße 5, 1010 Vienna
