erdal duman
erdal duman
'grace under pressure'
6/3 - 12/4/2014
.artSümer is pleased to host Erdal Duman’s second solo exhibition between March 6th and April 5th. The exhibition titled “Grace under Pressure” consists of sculptures and installations that, through finger and bone motifs, deal with unconscious dynamics of people’s relationship with power.
In the creation scene Michelangelo reenacts, God points his finger at Adam giving him life, power, and the quality to represent Him. Adam, in turn, points at God and strengthens his sanctity. Starting out with a graceful touch, this reciprocal pointing forms an exclusive bond and creates pressure on those it leaves out.
In his exhibition titled “Ammunition” (2011), through emptied out sculptures of weapons, Erdal Duman drew attention to the way the reality of violence is lost while passing through the filter of perception. This time, instead of marking presence with absence, the artist lays out -with striking visuality- the dynamics that are the source of violence. Following “Ammunition” where he showed how images of war can be hidden even by empty space and how camouflage works more on concepts than on objects, in “Grace under Pressure” Erdal Duman presents us with chosen motifs of a violence that is already latent. The humongous fingers that stand as totems in the exhibition drive us to a confrontation about the role of primal instincts in the creation of power figures. Meanwhile, through bones, the most primitive weapons here turned modern art objects, Erdal Duman refers to the rough fall between being dazzled by charm and realizing the truth of the matter.
Born in Germany in 1976, the artist received his BFA in Sculpture from Hacettepe University in 2002, and completed his MFA in the same institution in 2007. His first solo exhibition “Ammunition” was hosted by artSümer in 2011. The artist lives and works in Ankara.
'grace under pressure'
6/3 - 12/4/2014
.artSümer is pleased to host Erdal Duman’s second solo exhibition between March 6th and April 5th. The exhibition titled “Grace under Pressure” consists of sculptures and installations that, through finger and bone motifs, deal with unconscious dynamics of people’s relationship with power.
In the creation scene Michelangelo reenacts, God points his finger at Adam giving him life, power, and the quality to represent Him. Adam, in turn, points at God and strengthens his sanctity. Starting out with a graceful touch, this reciprocal pointing forms an exclusive bond and creates pressure on those it leaves out.
In his exhibition titled “Ammunition” (2011), through emptied out sculptures of weapons, Erdal Duman drew attention to the way the reality of violence is lost while passing through the filter of perception. This time, instead of marking presence with absence, the artist lays out -with striking visuality- the dynamics that are the source of violence. Following “Ammunition” where he showed how images of war can be hidden even by empty space and how camouflage works more on concepts than on objects, in “Grace under Pressure” Erdal Duman presents us with chosen motifs of a violence that is already latent. The humongous fingers that stand as totems in the exhibition drive us to a confrontation about the role of primal instincts in the creation of power figures. Meanwhile, through bones, the most primitive weapons here turned modern art objects, Erdal Duman refers to the rough fall between being dazzled by charm and realizing the truth of the matter.
Born in Germany in 1976, the artist received his BFA in Sculpture from Hacettepe University in 2002, and completed his MFA in the same institution in 2007. His first solo exhibition “Ammunition” was hosted by artSümer in 2011. The artist lives and works in Ankara.