SOFA ART + DESIGN FAIR 2014 06-09 KASIM 2014 06-09 NOVEMBER 2014
NURUOSMANİYE CAD. NO:65 34120 NURUOSMANİYE - İSTANBUL / TÜRKİYE armaggangallery.com
SOFA ART + DESIGN FAIR 2014 06-09 KASIM 2014 06-09 NOVEMBER 2014
SOFA ART + DESIGN FAIR 2014 Established to support aspiring young artists & designers and give art-lovers a chance to discover new and creative ideas ARMAGGAN Art & Design Gallery organizes group exhibitions, solo projects and take part in national and international art fairs worldwide. One of the most important event that Gallery takes part is the SOFA Chicago fair that gathers artists, sculptors and designers from all around the world. In 2014, seven leading Turkish modern artists, competitively selected by ARMAGGAN Art & Design Gallery and the Turkish Cultural Foundation, will be featured presenters at the 21st International Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Fair (SOFA ART+DESIGN FAIR Chicago), November 7-9, with an opening night reception on November 6, at the Chicago Navy Pier Festival Hall. The featured artists are Ipek Altunmaral, Gül Delemen, Meral Değer, Ipek Kotan, Çetin Pireci, Tan Taşpolatoğlu, and Canan Ustaoğlu. The prestigious three-day event brings together groundbreaking modern artists, sculptors, designers, curators and collectors from around the world for a series of exhibits, lectures, and discussions. The Turkish artists will exhibit at SOFA Chicago under the joint sponsorship of ARMAGGAN Art & Design Gallery and the Turkish Cultural Foundation, a U.S. non-profit organization that promotes and preserves Turkish culture worldwide. This is the eighth year that TCF has sponsored Turkish artists at SOFA and the third year that it has partnered with ARMAGGAN Art and Design Gallery in Istanbul to curate the selection.
FEATURED TURKISH ARTISTS AT SOFA 2014
MERAL DEĞER MERAL DEĞER My designs project my mystic approach combining past, present and future to create a unique whole. Meral Deger s glass collections arise from artful emphasis on aesthetics. Their abstract, pure and strong forms awaken associations with traditional roots. The inspiration behind Meral Deger s last collections, Cornucopia, Simurgh and Sparrow in The Nest - which were created especially for SOFA Chicago 2014 - are again mythical and mythological symbols. She uses different techniques to form this fascinating material, which magically interacts with light. Meral Deger received her Master s degree from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in 1983 and went on to study jewelry and glass design. Her award winning work has been exhibited across Europe and she has lectured at Yildiz Technical University in İstanbul at the Department of Applied Arts. Phoenix IV Glass 87 x 27 x 12 cm
MERAL DEĞER Phoenix III Glass 50 x 35 x 14 cm Sparrow In The Nest I Glass, silver 20 x 13 cm
MERAL DEĞER Cornucopia I Glass, silver Combined of two pieces: Piece with bird (20 x 85 cm) Other piece (20 x 68 cm)
İPEK KOTAN İPEK KOTAN My current work stems from a visceral desire to work with my hands and a love of the vessel form, which tells the story of humankind better than any other...working on the wheel using porcelain I explore its modern, minimalist and sometimes abstract variations. Ipek Kotan graduated from Emerson College in Boston with a degree in media arts and a concentration in black and white photography. Having found twodimensional media too restrictive, she went on to study foundation in art and design at Rhode Island School of Design in Providence. Later, she moved to Stoke-on-Trent, UK and graduated with a master s in ceramic design from Staffordshire University. Vessel VIII Porcelain D: 33 cm H: 7.5 cm
CANAN USTAOĞLU CANAN USTAOĞLU "I like to take a strong interest in human nature and behaviors, carrying this concept on to my canvas, I find myself very close to my main material, wood. I take forms that do not exist in nature, namely the square, and produce dialogues between the natural and the unnatural to emphasize the insincerity that society forces on us. Canan Ustaoğlu was born in Istanbul in 1972. In 2001, she graduated from the Painting Department at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Marmara University in 2001. In 2013, Ustaoğlu participated in the group exhibition "Art 7/24 vol.2" at ARMAGGAN Art & Design Gallery in Istanbul. Curiosity Acrylic and wood on canvas 170 x 170 cm
ÇETİN PİRECİ ÇETİN PİRECİ Digital images are everywhere and artists react to this. Some may use them, but I create my works using natural techniques and classical methods as opposed to computers. I paint on a line between digital and painting. The characters on the paintings create a tension due to the conflict between the complexities of the digital vision as opposed to the natural. I want to demonstrate the dilemma of how modernism and technology change culture in society and draw attention to the fact that digital is inevitable in the new age. I believe their co-existence is more meaningful because my artwork is hand-made - I create anti-digital rebellious artwork. Çetin Pireci was born in Bandırma in 1960. He graduated from the Ceramics Department at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Marmara University in 1983, and completed his master's degree in Applied Ceramic Arts at Mimar Sinan University in 1987. From 2006 to 2007, he taught at Kocaeli University. Pireci had many solo exhibitions and participated in over 50 group exhibitions and biennials in Turkey and other countries. He currently works in Istanbul. Black Oil on canvas 75 x 75 x 5 cm
ÇETİN PİRECİ Fresh Oil on canvas 96 x 125 x 5 cm Subdued Oil on canvas 96 x 125 x 5 cm
İPEK ALTUNMARAL İPEK ALTUNMARAL I use seating as my medium to tell stories. A lot of research goes into each unique chair I make and they become a story of their own. Like a movie prop, each represents and celebrates a historical event or era. Ipek Altunmaral is a designer and researcher working and living in London. She graduated from the Department of Graphic Design at Central Saint Martins in 2009. She completed her Master's degree at Goldsmiths, University of London in 2011. In 2014, Altunmaral exhibited her work in the exhibition "States of Material" at ARMAGGAN Art and Design Gallery in Istanbul. She currently works at Crayon Club in London. Flapper Armchair
TAN TAŞPOLATOĞLU TAN TAŞPOLATOĞLU I create my compositions in accordance with either the pre-determined themes that were built as layers through time or as the pieces of collective memories that appear all of a sudden and unite with the time. These layers may be reflected as feelings, time, different cities or characters. The problems I question in general are the clash between existentialism, life, urban growth, modernization and nature, and their close relationship, how they impact our emotions and their reflections in micro worlds. Tan Taşpolatoğlu was born in Istanbul in 1977. He graduated from the Painting Department at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in 2000. He exhibited his work in the group exhibitions "States of Material" (2012), "Sanat Art 7/24" (2012), and "Tribute to Nature" (2013) at the ARMAGGAN Art & Design Gallery in Istanbul. Currently, Taşpolatoğlu continues his work in Istanbul. Relativity Epoxy, PVC on stainless steel 75 x 75 cm
GÜL DELEMEN GÜL DELEMEN Unity is a universal fact, and the reason why the universe exists. The universe opens new roads for us and offers us a unity at the end of the road. Ever particle of the whole shows us the transformation. I wish this would cover the whole universe. Thus, My Unity collection reflects simplicity, truth and reality and the essence of reality. While it unites the full and the empty, and the differences it resembles in one body, unity spreads its dynamism and power to the universe at the very end. Gül Delemen was born in Turkey. After graduating from Bilkent University in 1991, she pursued her studies at Tulane University in 1995. She took engraving lessons at IMOGA (Istanbul Museum of Graphic Arts) in 2008. After studying Fine Arts and Visual Arts at Işık University in 2012, Delemen completed her Master's degree at the same university in 2014. Since 2007, she has participated in many group exhibitions and competitions in Turkey and other countries. Delemen currently lives and works in Istanbul. Unity of Peak Iron 50 x 50 x 60 cm