How does reinterpreting the past through the lens of the present help us understand our own times? Faced with the postmodernist loss of reference points, we reconnect with our past to orientate ourselves, bridging our vision into a future that ushers everyday life into an increasingly pervasive technological dimension.
To explore this series of complex connections, JD Malat Gallery has teamed up with Turkish duo ha:ar - sculptor Hande Şekerciler and new media artist Arda Yalkın - to bring the innovative exhibition Electric Mannerism to the 16th edition of Contemporary Istanbul.
Through a series of light boxes depicting mesmeric scenes of ambiguous figures, Electric Mannerism explores the great masters of the Renaissance and Baroque periods in relation to a physical and virtual environment wherein the artists create several compositions that reinterpret the past with a view on the future.
Informed by Mannerism, every element of ha:ar's work is characterised by a dramatic bodily tension, portrayed in mystical poses and surrounded by clouds that are reminiscent of a celestial Baroque painting. The technology adopted by the artists does not intend to stand in the way of the viewer or to become the focus of the aesthetic experience; rather, it aids in the discovery of new meanings.
The exhibition explores the mirroring of digital and tangible realities by placing the duo's works in dialogue with Hande's sculptures, whose genesis remains linked to the virtual world of 3D modelling. Starting from a human figure that appears immersed in a Renaissance echo, the artist subverts the identity of the subjects, freeing them from characterising elements such as hair and clothing. This allows the viewer to see the bodies beyond any social construction as they are anonymously, projected into our contemporary dimension.
The physical exhibition experience is then taken to another level through Augmented Reality. Thanks to this technology and a unique partnership with Garage Atlas, the works and sculptures that could not be created in the real world will appear in the space virtually, in dialogue with the audience and the environment.
Electric Mannerism started its journey in Cer Modern, Ankara and later expanded out to different places such as, GAD-Venice and Scalo Lambreta- Milan. Now, it is meeting with art lovers in Istanbul in cooperation with JD Malat Gallery, one of the leading contemporary art galleries of London. Hande Şekerciler's physical sculpture will also be exhibited in JD Malat Gallery's group show at booth A1-202.
