Bozlu Art Project is pleased to announce Güven Zeyrek’s representation and to put on at the gallery the artist’s first solo show titled “Bodywall” which brings together a selection of his works spanning from the late 1950s to the 2000s. Curated by Nazlı Pektaş, Bodywall will be on view at the Mongeri Building from October 3 to November 29.
Bodywall follows the traces of the links between landscape, figure, body, and space in Güven Zeyrek’s paintings, besides it examines how these themes intersect with nature, the sublime, existence, emptiness, and color. Spanning two floors of the Mongeri Building, the exhibition builds its own reading through the dialogue between the paint and the surface. The artist’s existential creative act, shared with the AKATÜNVEL community, and his childhood experience of nature in Bergama/Kozak Plateau (located in the northern west part of Türkiye) form the two fundamental reference points of this reading. In preference over categorizing the works based on iconography, the reading of the exhibition focuses on how layers are superimposed, how interruptions and fissures are placed on the surface, as well as the tension between color and emptiness. Bodywall invites the audience to comparatively observe how the meaning produced by paint transforms throughout the oeuvre of Zeyrek rather than separately showcasing his favorite themes.
The exhibition takes shape within a framework encompassing the diverse functions pursued by Bozlu Art Project, a multifaceted art institution active since 2013. A selection from the books in Güven Zeyrek’s studio, who passed away in 2021, are presented to readers in the Bozlu Art Project library, designed as an open space for all students and art professionals conducting research in the field of art history. In addition to its gallery and library functions, the institution houses a large collection that Şükrü Bozluolcay began building in the late 1970s. Bozluolcay Collection includes works by many important representatives of classical, modern, and contemporary art, as well as the “Artist Studio Collection,” featuring materials used by artists in their work. As part of Bodywall, Güven Zeyrek’s painting materials are also exhibited in a special room in the Mongeri Building, alongside the photographs selected from the artist’s archive.
Works by members of the AKATÜNVEL Art Community, including Süleyman Velioğlu, Tangül, and Tamer Akakıncı, from the Bozluolcay Collection, are also awaiting visitors throughout the exhibition on the collection floor of the Mongeri Building, which can be visited by appointment.