Akbank 40th Contemporary Artists Prize Exhibition
Artists
Ahmet Berkin Günsay, Alara Başar, Ali Kanal, Begüm Çelik, Betül Sertkaya, Buğra Erol, Cemil Olgun Can, Dilara Başköylü, Elif Özen, Emre Çalış, Ferhat Tunç, Gizem Candan, İrem Sezer, Lalin Mercan, Nazif Can Akçalı, Oğuz Gököz, Özlem Cıbır, Özlem Köse, Rıdvan Aşar, Sümeyra Çetin, Yasemin Kaplan, Zülkif Esin
Curator
Fatoş Üstek
Jury Members
Çelenk Bafra, Derya Bigalı, Fatoş Üstek, Gönül Nuhoğlu, İpek Duben
Exhibition Date: 1 June – 30 July 2022
CARTE BLANCHE
Carte Blanche is the title and the curatorial method of the 40th Akbank Contemporaries Exhibition, built through a selection from an open call to all current students and recent graduates based in Turkey. On this occasion of the 40th anniversary year, the applications were not made according to a pre-set curatorial theme, On the contrary, the artists were encouraged to apply with their current projects, pressing desires and urges.
The result is an exhibition that culminates with multiple voices and positions under its umbrella, showcasing a wide-array of artistic positions from across Turkey. It may be due to the zeitgeist or the selectors’ bias, or both, but there are common conceptual threads that are shared by the artists and the artworks. Even though artists are working with various media and artistic inquiry, the works explore the dichotomy between nature and nurture, and organic and artificial, employing language as a basis and a grounding method. Perhaps due to the impact of the recent years, a specific emphasis on solitude, anxiety and sense of agency is observed.
Carte Blanche, brings together 22 distinct voices in two different exhibition formats. Alongside the tradition of the physical exhibition, a digital exhibition is curated in parallel - premiering at the Akbank Digital platform.
Fatoş Üstek