CANAN / Segregate

Wednesday 12 May 2010 at 8 pm, Kibela - the opening of the exhibition Segregate by turkish artist CANAN.

CANAN (1970, Istanbul) belongs to a generation of Turkish artists that express social commitment and a global outlook in their critical attitude to the Turkish societal system, and combine a subdued sense of humour with forceful provocation and aesthetic reflection. In her universe the naked body appears in indecent ways, dolls commit sexual assaults and torture victims describe the physical and psychological pains they have experienced. Canan defines her art using a feminist slogan from the 1970s “private is political,” but she does not designate her work as feminist. The artist's first solo exhibition in Kibela presents a selection of her video works.

"I describe my work with the feminist slogan that is still pertinent today: “Personal is political.” I start from the point of view that the ideological system is following the path to “body restriction” by spying on and normalizing us by means of controlling our personal lives. I am questioning the governing power of such institutions as religion, government, society and family on our private lives.
I focus my work on the concepts that are glorified, that are transformed into taboos, that are not talked about, and that have a continuum without being questioned. Daily life has been the biggest influence on my work. From this point of view the artwork becomes provocative, aggressive, erotic, risky and violent. Artwork, then, has the act of meeting the private with public space."

Solo exhibitions:
2007    “Hicap”, Performance, Platform Art Center, Istanbul “Bahname” Masan
   Project, Istanbul
2006    “Behind the Curtains”, Festival De Rode Loper, Amsterdam
     “Eyes cannot cognize” KBH Kunstall, Copenhagen
2005    “Behind the Curtains”, 9th International Istanbul Biennial Paralel
   Project, Istanbul
2003    “Es war einmal”, Laden No:5 Bad Ems, Germany
2000    "Finally you are in me", Tabela, Istanbul
1997    "Dreams, Faces, Plotters", Curator :Beral Madra, Rahmi Koç Museum,
   Istanbul
   “Light up a Candle for the Light!” Performance, Istanbul

Group exhibitions:
2009   City_net Asia 2009 - Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA), Seoul
    11th International Istanbul Biennale, Curators WHW, Istanbul
            “Red Thread”, Curators WHW, Tanas Gallery, Berlin
       Scobe Art Fair, Basel
            "Unfair Provacation”, kuratorka Canan Senol, Hafriyat Karaköy, Istanbul
2008   Contemporary İstanbul Art Fair 08, Istanbul
        “Save As”, Contemporary art from Turkey, Triennale Bovisa, Milan
          "Makul”, Hafriyat Karakoy, Istanbul
Sehir Hatları / Stadtverbindungen, Kunstmuseum Erlangen, Germany
2007   "Here, There, Abroad" Ifa Galery Stuttgart, Germany
          "Here, There, Abroad" Ifa Gallery Berlin, Germany
            "Global Feminsms", Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley
            “Be a realist, demand the impossible”, Curator Halil Altındere, Karşı
Sanat, İstanbul
    “IFCA 13th international Festival of Computer arts”, Maribor, Slovenia
          “Global Feminisms” Brooklyn Museum, New York
      “Never From the Back but Face to Face” Radikal Art, Istanbul
      “without head”, performance, MacArt Gallery, İstanbul
2006 “All about lies”, Apartman Project, Istanbul
      "Home and Away”, Maribor, Art Gallery, Slovenia
2005   “Free Kick”, Istanbul 9th International Istanbul Biennial Hospitally Zone,
   Istanbul
           “Secret and Time”, Ankara
     “Werke der Stipendiaten in Privatbesitz”, Emser Salon, Germany
2004   “Metamorphosis”, Darphane, Istanbul
          “K-ein Weg”, Gallery Berkelkraftwerk Vreden, Germany
            “38. Paralel, Horizon”, Skironio Centrum Kiffissia, Athens
          “Muslims in Cairo, Teheran, Istanbul, Paris, Dakar”, Parc de la Villette,
    Paris
2003   “I’m too sad to kill you” Proje 4L, Istanbul
        “Good, Bad, Ugly” Bilgi Üniversity, Istanbul
            “Bad Emser Medienkunsttage”, Bad Ems, Germany
          “Art bytes” Künstlerhaus Schloß Balmoral, Bad Ems, Germany
“Short & Sharp” Curator: Gulsen Bal, London Gallery 291, London
2002   “VideoRom 4,0”,Curator: Giacinto Di Pietrantonio Italia
    “VideoRom 2,0” Curator: Cristiana Perralla, Giancarla Zanutti Gallery,
   Milano
         “Video-Pool” Curator: Beral Madra, Contemporary Art Fair, Istanbul
2001    "The Passions", 1st Valancia Biennial
2000 "Young Art 3", Curator Vasıf Kortun, Ankara
       "Resistance ", Istanbul Technical University, Curator: Beral Madra,
   Istanbul
1999 "The picture in the hills" Dulcinea Art Gallery, Istanbul
        “Out from Nowhere" centrem Beeldende Kunst, Dordrecht, Schiedam,
   Lieden, Holland
       "Mixed Painting Exhibition", Galery Galetea, Curator; Vasif Kortun,
   Istanbul
1998   "Reise Durh das Labyrinth", Galery Pozzo Pozzoza, kurator: Beral Madra,
     Berlin
           Art in The World, Critical Trends and Young Artists, Passage de Retz,
   Paris
1997   18.Contemporary Istanbul Artists Exhibition, AKM Istanbul
        "Kaos" Youth Action 3,TUYAP, Istanbul
        "Varna'97" 9. International Print Biennial, Varna
            "Dungeon" Group 97, Anemas Dungeon, Istanbul
1996   "Territory-Deterritorialisation" Youth Action 2, TUYAP, Istanbul

The exhibition will be on view until 12 June 2010.

The exhibition is part of X-OP project, supported by European Commission – Program Culture and Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and Municipality of Maribor.