Zümrütoğlu in his studio, 2020
The title of the exhibition, Atonal Drift, marks an extension of the progressive thinking first expressed by Austrian-born composer and painter, Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951). ‘Atonality’ has been understood as a conscious attempt to avoid traditional harmony in music. Taking on the broadest sense of the term – as deviation from traditional structures and integral frameworks of different practices – ‘atonal’ in Zümrütoğlu’s new body of work denotes his ability to challenge the conventions of figurative painting to express a dissonant human form, while ‘drift’ demonstrates his shift from the canvas to sculpture.
