ISCP Talk
November 6, 2018, 6:30–8pm

Lecture on 5533 by Nancy Atakan and Volkan Aslan, moderated by Mari Spirito

As part of the public programing for 5533’s institutional residency and exhibition Under the Radar, its co-founders Nancy Atakan and Volkan Aslan will be in discussion. They will reflect on 5533’s initiatives and alternative model during its ten years of existence. The discussion will be moderated by Mari Spirito, who collaborated with 5533 on the Proto5533 series of exhibitions.

Co-founded in 2007 by Nancy Atakan and Volkan Aslan, 5533 aims to establish, within the Istanbul art context, a space to bring together people from different locations, disciplines, occupations, and backgrounds to create alternative models in the art context. They initiate contemporary art projects based on art-related research, critical reflection, dialogue, collaboration, interaction, discussion, and sharing. Having selected a modus operandi that gives freedom for experimentation without fear of failure, 5533 functions without an official status, sponsors, or long-term plans.

Volkan Aslan lives and works in İstanbul, and is the co-founder of 5533. Working with a wide range of materials and media, his recent practice deals with the perception of time and memory, infusing his work with both personal associations and unexpected interpretations. Recent solo exhibitions include Shoot me! Don’t turn me over!, Pi Artworks, Istanbul, 2018; A Good Neighbour, 15th Istanbul Biennial, 2017; Passion, Joy, Fury, Maxxi Museum, Rome, 2015; and A Day Not Yet Lived, Pi Artworks, London, 2014.

Nancy Atakan, co-founder of 5533, has been a fixture in the Istanbul arts scene for over 40 years, as an artist, teacher, art historian, and art critic. Her multi-media practice concentrates on the relationship between image and word, the meaning of belonging, gender politics, and globalization, most particularly in the context of Istanbul. She recently exhibited her work at Making a Shift, (with Maria Andersson), Nordic Art Association, NFK, Stockholm; Community of Lines, Pi Artworks, Istanbul, 2017; and Sporting Chances, Pi Artworks, London, 2016.

Mari Spirito is Executive Director and Curator of Protocinema, an art organization realizing site-aware exhibitions around the world, since 2011. She is Associate Curator of Visual Arts, Onassis Cultural Center, Athens and was a Guest Curator for Alserkal Avenue Program’s Public Commission, Dubai, 2018; Director and Curator of Alt Art Space/Bomonti, Istanbul 2015-2017; Advisor to the 2nd Mardin Biennial, Turkey, 2012; and Director of 303 Gallery New York, 2000 – 2012. She is President of the Board of Participant, Inc, New York and holds a BFA from Massachusetts College of Art, Boston.

This program is supported, in part, by Greenwich Collection Ltd., Hartfield Foundation, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, Pera Soho, and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

6:30–8pm

Exhibition
October 30, 2018–January 25, 2019

Chia-Wei Hsu: Black and White – Malayan Tapir

Opening Reception: October 30, 2018, 6–8pm

Chia-Wei Hsu: Black and White – Malayan Tapir focuses on a specific non-human animal—the Malayan tapir. Through evocative storytelling, Hsu cuts across time and geography to narrate the history of the Malayan tapir and its relationship to colonial power and zoos in Southeast Asia. According to the artist, his intention with Black and White – Malayan Tapir is to use an encyclopedic narrative style to deal with issues of equality between people and non-humans, man and nature, and to explore changes in the way modern people view images.

The exhibition is composed of a synchronized four-channel LED-screen installation. The scenes in the video switch between the National Gallery Singapore, the National History Museum, and the Singapore Zoo, to search engines and multiple computer screen windows. Across the screens, a zoo tour guide recounts the initial recording of the black and white Malayan tapir by a Chinese painter, who mapped it in the early nineteenth century at the request of William Farquhar, a commander of the British East India Company. This was likely the first documentation of the species, an endeavor that was ultimately contested by Farquhar’s boss Stamford Raffles, who also purported to be the first to discover the animal. Due to the rapid development of the natural sciences during the colonial era, the naming and documentation of animals and plants became a competitive field, and accordingly, conflict is entwined with the history and legend of the Malayan tapir, now an endangered species.

Chia-Wei Hsu (born 1983, lives and works in Taipei) is interested in the untold histories of different periods in time, and frequently focuses on the Cold War in Asia. His works, often in the form of films and installations, weave together reality and myth, the past and the present. Hsu’s work has been presented in many museums, including the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin; and Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid. A Hugo Boss Asia Art Award finalist in 2012 and the Grand Prize winner of the prestigious 2017 Taishin Arts Award, Hsu has also been included in many biennials and festivals, including the 39th International Film Festival Rotterdam, the 2012 Liverpool Biennial, the 2018 Sydney Biennale and the 2018 Gwangju Biennale. He will also participate in upcoming biennales in Bangkok and Shanghai. Hsu was residence at ISCP in 2010.

This exhibition is co-organized by ISCP and the Taipei Cultural Center in New York.

Major support for this exhibition is provided by the Ministry of Culture, Taiwan and Taipei Cultural Center in New York. This program is also supported, in part, by Hartfield Foundation, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, New York City Council District 34, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Opening Reception: Oct 30, 2018, 6–8pm
Open Hours: Tuesday–Friday, 12–6pm, and by appointment
Download Press Release (PDF)

Participating Residents

Exhibition
October 30, 2018–January 25, 2019

Under the Radar: 5533 at ISCP

Opening Reception: Tuesday, October 30, 6–8pm

ISCP has hosted an annual institution-in-residence since 2011. This kind of residency was initiated to support cultural exchange by bringing an international perspective to a local context. This year, ISCP has invited 5533, an Istanbul-based independent space founded in 2007. 5533 will be in residence at ISCP from October 30, 2018 through January 25, 2019 and will present an exhibition and a series of public programs during this time.

Co-founded in 2007 by Nancy Atakan and Volkan Aslan, 5533 aims to establish, within the Istanbul art context, a space to bring together people from different locations, disciplines, occupations, and backgrounds to create alternative models in the art context. They initiate contemporary art projects based on art-related research, critical reflection, dialogue, collaboration, interaction, discussion, and sharing. Having selected a modus operandi that gives freedom for experimentation without fear of failure, 5533 functions without an official status, sponsors, or long-term plans.

For the three months that 5533 is in residence at ISCP, Aslan and Atakan will initiate an on-site project involving several components, that will simulate 5533’s Istanbul space. Much of the project will reflect on the past, while highlighting the current artistic and social atmosphere in Turkey. With the looming specter of censorship, 5533 always aims to remain under the radar.

The exhibition, titled Under the Radar: 5533 at ISCP, will feature archives, a selection of videos and several new commissions throughout the duration of the residency. In addition, two historical photographs from 1938 and 1960 will be presented, pointing to the current political situation in Turkey and the past as well. A new commission by Yuri will also be presented alongside the archives. A nearby area will be used as a rotating project space, with three different  presentations. The first will be an exhibition by Gözde Ilkin, followed by a collaborative exhibition by Nancy Atakan and Merve Ünsal and lastly, a solo presentation by Burak Arıkan.

The exhibition will be augmented by public programs throughout the Fall including artist talks and lectures. These will include the Sen ve Ben 5533 Project (You and I 5533 Project) designed by Merve Ünsal and Nancy Atakan, that will bring together the New York Turkish community with ISCP residents to realize projects, collaborations, or events that promote sharing, interaction, discussion and dialogue within 5533 at ISCP.

5533 public program schedule at ISCP:

  • November 6, 2018, 6:30–8pm: Lecture on 5533 by Nancy Atakan and Volkan Aslan moderated by Istanbul-based curator and director of Protocinema, Mari Spirito
  • January 22, 2019, 6:30–8pm: Sen ve Ben Evening with ISCP resident Fatma Bucak

Institutional Residents and Exhibiting Artist Biographical Information:

Burak Arıkan is a New York and Istanbul based artist working with complex networks. He reshapes social, economic, and political issues into network maps, algorithmic interfaces and performances, ultimately rendering inherent power relationships visible and discussable. Arikan’s software, prints, installations, and performances have been featured in numerous exhibitions internationally. He is the founder of Graph Commons, a collaborative platform for mapping, analyzing, and publishing data-networks.

Volkan Aslan lives and works in Istanbul, and is the co-founder of 5533. Working with a wide range of materials and media, his recent practice deals with the perception of time and memory, infusing his work with both personal associations and unexpected interpretations. Recent major exhibitions include Shoot me! Don’t turn me over!, Pi Artworks, Istanbul, 2018; A Good Neighbour, 15th Istanbul Biennial, 2017; Passion, Joy, Fury, MAXXI, Rome, 2015; and A Day Not Yet Lived, Pi Artworks London, 2014.

Nancy Atakan, co-founder of 5533, has been a fixture in the Istanbul arts scene for over 40 years, as an artist, teacher, art historian, and art critic. Her multimedia practice concentrates on the relationship between image and word, the meaning of belonging, gender politics, and globalization, particularly in the context of Istanbul. Recent exhibitions include Marking a Shift, Nordic Art Association, Stockholm; Community of Lines, Pi Artworks, Istanbul, 2017; and Sporting Chances, Pi Artworks, London, 2016.

Gözde İlkin lives and works in Istanbul, Turkey. Working with stitching, drawing, painting, video and sound installations, İlkin constructs forms of confrontational interactions within the motifs of found domestic fabric. In the process, she refers to social and political relationships and concepts of manipulation, borders, power issues, gender attitudes, and urban transformation. İlkin exhibited work in the 15th Istanbul Biennial, 2017, and has been awarded a six-month residency at Pioneer Works, New York.

Merve Ünsal is a visual artist based in Istanbul. In her work, she employs text and photography, extending both beyond their form. She has participated in artist residencies at the University of Delaware, Lewes; Delfina Foundation, London; Praksis, Oslo; Banff Centre; Fogo Island Arts; and was a participant in the Homework Space Program 2014-15 at Ashkal Alwan, Beirut. Ünsal holds a MFA in Photography and Related Media from Parsons School of Design and a BA in Art and Archaeology from Princeton University. She is the founding editor of the artist-driven online publishing initiative m-est.org.

Yuri, an artist who goes by this name for the exhibition 5533 at ISCP, changes his practice for each project. For 5533 at ISCP, Yuri will make a wall painting to capture the memory of a space and transfer it to another. His paintings are minimal, usually a single color, but are also hyper-realistic and go beyond representation, claiming to recall the memory of the chosen space.

This program is supported, in part, by Greenwich Collection Ltd., Hartfield Foundation, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, Pera Soho, and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

Opening Reception: Oct 30, 2018, 6–8pm
Open Hours: Tuesday–Friday, 12–6pm
Download Press Release (PDF)