Exhibitions / Solo
Nomadic Tales
Millennium Gallery, Sheffield
22 January – 13 April 2020
Nomadic Tales was the first large-scale museum presentation of a body of work developed through more than a decade of engagement with the drawings attributed to Siyah Kalem, or Black Pen, and my experience of living and working in Istanbul.
Presented at Millennium Gallery, Sheffield, the exhibition transformed the intimate scale of painting into an immersive installation environment. Enlarged figures, suspended throughout the gallery, created a landscape through which visitors could walk, pause and encounter the work physically.
The exhibition brought together themes that had developed through earlier Istanbul projects, including migration, storytelling, cultural memory, myth and the visual language of the contemporary city. Graffiti, political stencils, architectural details and fragments of everyday life accumulated within the figures, turning them into vessels for the city and its histories.
Curator
Nomadic Tales was curated by Ashley Gallant, artist, curator and art historian. At the time of the exhibition he worked with Sheffield Museums, where he curated exhibitions spanning historical collections and contemporary art. His interest in connecting historic material with contemporary practice provided an ideal context for the presentation of Nomadic Tales, bringing together medieval imagery, painting and installation within a major public gallery.
While this exhibition documents the public presentation of the work, the project itself developed over many years through research, painting and installation. The complete body of work can be explored on the project page.
About the Project
To explore the development of the project and view the wider body of work, visit the "Nomadic Tales project page.
Installation Views
Selected Works
A small selection of works from the wider Nomadic Tales project is included here. The complete body of work can be explored on the Nomadic Tales project page.
İplik büken demonlar (Demons twisting thread)
2019 · mixed media on canvas · 194 × 208 cm
Demonların dansı (Dance of Demons)
2021 · mixed media on canvas · 222 × 485 cm
Dalaşan demonlar (Quarreling demons)
2021 · mixed media on canvas · 193 × 237 cm
Legacy
Looking back, Nomadic Tales marked a major point of arrival within my Istanbul work. It brought together research, painting, installation and public engagement in a museum context, allowing the imagery of Siyah Kalem to be reimagined at architectural scale. The exhibition also formed an important bridge between earlier projects such as Şeytan Tüyü and later works including The Black Pen Project and A Nomad’s Tale.
