Nasan Tur. No Surrender

17 December 2021–16 January 2022

Nasan Tur. No Surrender

Dirimart is pleased to announce No Surrender, Nasan Tur’s second solo exhibition at the gallery. The exhibition is composed of new sculptures, installations, and drawings of the artist known for his diverse ways of making art. Tur’s recent production focuses on the intersection between human instincts, socio-cultural constructions, and perceptions on self-representation.

First work that welcomes the visitor to the space is a mirror surface. Mirror: a tool for gazing upon a self-reflection. Tur’s mirror works titled Eurofighter, F16, F15 (2021) are an invitation for bearing in mind the fact that there are infinite possibilities of one’s appearance. By putting reflective surfaces in various angles together, a person is exposed to multiple versions of being perceived. The shapes of these works are based on the design of paper war planes. With these folding games, the artist questions the roles attributed to a child, from a very early age, and construction of subconscious preparation to war and violence These works function as a portal that invites visitors to shift their perspectives. Across the exhibition space, figures with camouflage costumes appear; some resting on the ground, some standing before the visitor. Those costumes are inspired by the observation of killing tactics of wild species and mimic their strategy to kill the enemy without being detected. Tur tackles these clothes as readymades creating his series The Invisible (2021) that reverses the idea of being invisible: shining bodies becoming the most detectable objects around. Taking its inspiration from shadow theatre, the shadows of The Inner Shadows (2021) series appear as main characters of fables as well as being art objects of their own. Shadows provide a shift in reality and lead to an experience of daydreaming for a limited period of time. Thus, the artist reminds us the importance of sharpening the way we see, question our surrounding. Juxtaposed to The Invisible (2021), the artists most recent self-portrait Me and Me (2021) depicts him facing his inner demons in a playful way. Run (2004), the only previous work shown at the exhibition, reminds the aimless rush of a child, focusing on the energy spent for the sake of being in constant movement. For the first time in his career, Nasan Tur created a drawing installation: the series titled Traces (2021) is a contemporary and colorful reimagination of cave paintings. Raising the question about the motivation for creation of those primitive paintings, that face us, we speculate solely based on our feelings and instincts. They remind us that fundamental issues of human nature are still unresolved. This is also an experiment for the artist in his investigation on how deep the awareness of existence goes. Tired Flagpole (2021), greeting and seeing off the visitor, is in a shape to fail to carry any flag. Humoristically, Nasan Tur monumentalizes just another failure.

Through his new body of works, Nasan Tur intersects child’s plays, military tools and tactics, and instinctive reactions to the exposure of patterns forced on the individual by the society. Perceiving art as a phenomenon of being the least practical on a daily basis, Tur believes that it is the artist’s social responsibility to trigger reflections on society. In the long run, an artist’s work becomes a conversation initiator that leads to communication that makes a difference. A communication that prevents us to overlook the inequalities and to surrender to the established order unconsciously.

Nasan Tur (b. 1974, Offenbach) participated in documenta 14, 10th Istanbul Biennale and 6th Taipei Biennale and exhibited in numerous institutions such as Palais de Tokyo, Centre Pompidou, Paris; Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt; Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin; Städel Museum, Frankfurt; Maxxi Museum, Rome. In 2012, he was awarded the Will Grohmann Prize of the Academy of Arts, Berlin and in 2014, the Villa Massimo Prize of the Deutsche Akademie Rome. Currently he is preparing a large-scale work for the RIBOCA Biennial in Riga and a solo exhibition at Berlinische Galerie – Museum of Modern Art, Berlin. He holds a professorship in the post-graduate program Spacial Strategies at Weißensee Academy of Art, Berlin. Nasan Tur lives and works in Berlin.