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About Works

Borga Kanturk uses painting and drawing as his artistic medium yet it is often difficult to call the result of his production processes ‘paintings’. He makes hand made copies of official documents, which dictate a public identity on to the individual, like diplomas, student identity cards, honours certificates, examination passes, and identity cards. These experiments with ‘artificiality’ and ‘constructedness’ become an act of protest through recreating the original images while distorting and reframing them. These remade objects, which were brought together in an installation titled “Borga Kanturk/Retrospective” shown in the exhibition ‘I am Too Sad to Kill You!’ at Proje4L in 2003 served as a starting point for other works. Borga Kanturk’s oeuvre is contended multi-layered selection. There are works which designate an intimate space, introverted and secluded: play-dough sculptures, found toys, “slightly melancholic mortal objects, tiny fragile statuettes that risk being disfigured with a touch” and everyday objects like a pack of cream cheese, a playing piece from a game, a leaf from a memo pad and a pencil. Little scenes made out of play-dough bring together elements borrowed from TV and computer games, such as a scene depicting a 10cm soccer player figure watching a big text which is a slogan from Anfield Road. In Kanturk’s words: “a pocket size version of the dream of large scale production.” Next to them is the series of paintings bearing the title “ALLA TURCA” NEO-ROMANTIC emulating the renowned landscape works of romantic painters like Caspar David Frederich and William Turner on a small-scale. The attempt to discover landscapes provoking adventure on an artificial monitor; Lara Croft looking for the remains of a sunken ship underwater, a submarine in the midst of the blue, a car attacked by a UFO in an uncanny land, a passageway to a mysterious world. Little paradises that allow us to take a break from the everyday and daydream, habitats for protected adventures… “Creating a beautiful space that pleases you, withdrawing there and building your resistance there.

Newest works of Borga Kanturk are usually focused on the stories / narratives of the not so wel-known soccer histories. These works are intended some nostaljic images which are re-production by artists as a poster, booklet and hand made broshure. These images are made in a documentaristic sense as a nostalgic efemeras, collectors items, stickers etc.
Kanturk creates mise-en-scene’s which focuses on the forgotten history of football. Revenge of Zidane, forinstance, reminds primarily of famous Zinedine Zidane and his case of receiving the red-card. However, Kanturk, subtly tricks the audience with the name, only to talk about the story of other Zidane, Djemal Zidane of Algeria(who we may have never heard of). Another work combines two stories from history: Dinamo Kiev, the famous Soviet football team of the 2nd World War and a low-budget, amateur Turkish team from the 80’s which bears a similar name ‘Dinamo Mesken’. The story of the abolishment of the amateur team due to political reasons and the two distinct stories of the cities Bursa and Kiev provides a strange yet interesting remark.
In addition artist reconstructs his small gestural performances, as flip-books and grafitties. These works carries the purpose of recording some occasional encounters and daily, off-the-record absurdities. Artist, involving himself in the process of events, fabricates the narration with a traditional method, drawing, in a documentary vocabulary.



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cv, bibliography

Borga Kantürk (9.07.1978, İzmir)‏

Artist & Curator

He lives and works in Izmir

contact: borgakanturk@gmail.com


Education:

1995-1999 Dokuz Eylul Univ. Fine Art Faculty Painting Department.

1999-2003 Dokuz Eylul Univ. Fine Art İnstitut. PaintingDepartment Master Programme.

2003 Dokuz Eylul Univ. FAI Painting Department Doc.Programme.

Residency:

2005- HIAP (Helsinki International Artist-in-Residence Programme),

3 months recidency, (june, july, august) Helsinki. FINLAND

2009- La Friche, Sextant Et Plus, 2 months recidency (july, august ), Marseille, FRANCe

Instutional:

2002- He is a founder and director of KUTU’ Portable ArtGallery’.

2003- He is a co-founder K2 Art Center.

2004_2007- He is a co-project director of K2 Art Center.

2007- He is a co-founder of “-1 Network for Contemporary Art, İzmir”

Selected Solo Exhibition:

2001- "Medar-i Iftihar", Iletisim Kitabevi Art Gallery,IZMIR

2006- “Revenge of Zidane”(Zidane’ın İntikamı), MASA, Istanbul

2009- “Taniklik Mesafesi, Fransız Kültür Merkezi Sergi Salonu, İzmir

Couple Exhibition:

2005- “Borga Kantürk & Ahmet Öğüt”,

Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center, Istanbul

Selected Group Exhibitions:

2002 - "I’m too sad to kill you !" , Proje4L, Istanbul

2003- B-fact: Black Sea / Baltic Sea / Barents Sea

Mutual Realities/ Artistic Exchange/ Inter-regional Solidarity,

Recognition/Switch/Hospitality, Bilgi Uni. Atelier 111, ISTANBUL

2004- Darkroom, Artist-workshop, Contitental Factory, Hannover, GERMANY

2004- “Lock your mind”(Zihnini Kilitle), Serkan Özkaya, Ahmet Ögüt, Borga Kantürk

collobrative works, Sox36, Berlin, GERMANY

2006- “Check-in-Europe”, (p2p: invisible landscapes) , EPO, Munih, GERMANY

2006- “Les Dessous Chic”, Clermont-Ferrand, FRANCE

2007 – “Punctre Tyre, K2 art center, IZMIR

2008- “Save As...” Contemporary art from Turkey, Triennale Bovisa, Milano, ITALY

2009- “akümüle: kenara konanlar, kenarda kalanlar... (Accumulated: put aside, left aside...), 5533, ISTANBUL

2009- “Göreli Konumlar ve Kanaatler” (Relative Position and conclusions), Suriye Pasajı, ISTANBUL

Selected Curatorial Activities:

2001- “Hello Boredom”, KUTUv.1, Proje4L, İstanbul

2004- “The deepest breath”, KUTUv.4, Akbank Art Center, İstanbul

2004- “Secret Face”, K2 Art Center, İzmir

2005- “alice vs. Alice” curators: Adnan Yıldız, Borga Kantürk, Selection for K2 Art Center by Adnan Yıldız, Selection for Kasa Gallery by Borga Kantürk, December_January, İstanbul-İzmir

2005- “Other’s Chance”, K2 Art Center March_May, İzmir

2005- ‘The Little, The Cheap, The Trash and Absolutely Passionate!’ Young Turkish Artists from K2 Artists Initiative (Küçük, Ucuz, Arızalı ve Tamamen Tutkulu: K2 Sanatçı İnsiyatifinden Genç Türk Sanatçılar), HIAP Artist Studio, Cable Factory, Helsinki, FINLAND

2005- ‘From the midnight sun: Contemporary Art Videos From Finland’, K2 Art Center, İzmir

2006- “Guest Room (01-02-03-04)” exhibition series for AKM Project Room, November,2006_February,2007, İzmir

2007- “Hope is a good thing”, AtelierFrankfur, Franfurt am Main, Germany

2007- Nightcomers, (the one part of 10th Istanbul Biennial exhibitions),

Curators: Adnan Yildiz, Borga Kanturk, Marcus Graf, Pelin Uran,

Ovul Durmusoglu, Istanbul

2008- “One in a Million” Artists: Uygar Ozel & Nur Muskara, French Culture Art Gallery,Izmir

Selected Publications:

2008, “Save as...Contemporary art from Turkey, Exhibition Catalogue, pages: 24, 54 – 55

2008, Bant – (art & design culture magazine ) No:45, pages: 36 – 39

2008, art-ist contemporary art magazine, no: 7, “Gecegezenleri kim Gördü?” text by Ayça Ince, page: 54

2007, “User's Manual Contemporary Art in Turkey, 1986-2006”, Edited by Halil Altındere&Sureyyya Evren, pages: 296 – 299

2007, “Not Only Possible, But Also Necessary: Optimism in the Age of Global War, 10th” intertational istanbul Biennial Catalogue, pages: 457 – 503, 520 – 521

2007, “Istanbul: 59 Locations, a format for nightcomers” by Bik Van der Pol, pages: 25 -26,

2007, “Open Doors 2007”, Atelier Frankfurt Year Catalogue, pages: 6, 8

2007, “K2 Contemporary Art Center 03 – 07”, pages: 11, 18 - 20, 22 – 27, 30 – 35, 44, 48

2007, “Water&Blue” Exhibition Catalogue, page: 21

2007, “Milliyet Sanat, art-magazine, no: 9, “Bienalin gece programlarının en tekinsizi” by Adnan Yıldız, 20 – 21

2006, “Songs of Freedom and love_Contemporary Art From the North of the North”, Exhibition Catalogue, page: 6

2006, “becoming a survivor” Artist's book by Borga Kanturk, 1000 copies

2006, “HIAP Bulletin – issue 01”, page: 23

2006, Art in America, may 2006, no: 05, page: 199

2006, Bidoun, Summer 2006, Arts and Culture from Middle East, page: 142

2006, Plato - no:03, Magazine for contemporary art, pages: 116 - 117

2006, Geniş Açı – no: 47, photography and art magazine, Beriki Mecra by Ozge Baykan, pages: 56 - 57

2006, Geniş Açı – no: 45, photography and art magazine, Exhibitions, page: 63

2006, RH+sanat, art-magazine, no:28, page: 69

2005, “Alice vs. alice”, exhibition book, Co-editor: Borga Kanturk, pages: 35 – 42

2005, Trendsetter, design magazine, no:04, “portfolio by Borga Kanturk”, pages: 124 – 131

2004, “Tedium for a Rainbow”, Exhibition Catalogue, pages:10 – 11, 30 – 37

2004, Art-ist Contemporary Art Magazine, “Along the gates of Urban”, pages: 89 – 90

2004, Rh+Sanat, art magazine, no: 13, “gizli-yüz”, page: 90

2003, “I am too sad to kill you!”, exhibition book, pages: 28, 31, 66 – 68,

2003, 22nd Graphic Design Exhibition Catalogue, page: 26

2003, Yapı, architectihure and art magazine, no: 265, Exhibitions, page: 110

2003, RH+sanat, art-magazine, no:07, “80 m2 muzik, Birsin Çolakoğlu, pages: 80 - 81

2003, “80 square meters music”, Exhibition Catalogue, pages:5, 22 – 23

2002, “in between”, exhibiton book, co-editor: Borga Kanturk, pages: 2 – 3, 40-41

2002, Arredamento Mimarlik, architechture magazine no: 01, Exhibitions, page: 32

2001, “62nd State Exhibition on Paintings & Sculptures, exhibition catalogue”, pages: 28 – 29

2001, “Ancyclopedia for Izmir Painters”, page: 166

2001, Izmir life, city magazine, no: 4, page: 66

interviews:

2008, interview by Seda Yılmaz, Time Out Istanbul magazine, no: 12, page: 34

2008, interview by Ozge Baykan, Ulusoy Travel Magazine, no: 135, pages: 126 – 128

2004, interview by Nilgün Yüksel, “Genç Sanatçı nerede?”, RH+sanat, art-magazine, no:12, pages: 57 – 58

2002, interview by Aysegul Sonmez, “yeniden baktılar”, Milliyet Sanat, Art-magazine, page: 72

Selected Texts, Reviews, İnterviews (by Borga Kanturk) :

2009, interview with Fulya Erdemci, “on SKOR and public art”, Res, Art World / World Art magazine, no: 3, pages: 106- 114

2008, “About User's Manual: Contemporary art in Turkey, 1986-2006”, Res, Art World / World Art magazine, no: 2, pages: 108 – 111

2008, “Shadow of the Bat” text for Halil Vurucuoğlu, Exhibition Catalogue by Dirimart, pages: 25 – 28

2008, interview with Halil Altındere: About User's Manual: Contemporary art in Turkey, 1986-2006”, Res, Art World / World Art magazine's website

2007, "Those who are Out of Sight and Out of Mindi those for whomthe Nights Blend into Days", “Not Only Possible, But Also Necessary: Optimism in the Age of Global War, 10th” intertational istanbul Biennial Catalogue, pages:466-469, yapı kredi yayınları, istanbul

2007, interview with Avni Koyun, an artist from germany, Sanat Dünyamız, art and culture magazine, no: 104, pages: 181 – 193

2005, secret face, text for exhibition brochure, K2 contemporary art center, Izmir

2002, “Mukavva duvarlar arasında, iç sıkıntısına merhaba”, Agora, art and culture magazine, no: 29, pages: 44 – 45

2002, “Hello Boredom” text for KUTU portable art gallery – brochure, Proje4L contemporary art museum, Istanbul