The first exhibition in Turkey by the famous British artist Ian Berry, who describes art with ‘denim’ fabric, ‘Beyond Denim’, opened its doors at Kalyon Kültür.
The opening of Ian Berry’s first exhibition in Istanbul, ‘Beyond Denim’, which art lovers have been eagerly awaiting, was held on Friday, November 29th at Kalyon Kültür, hosted by Kalyon Holding Social and Cultural Affairs Committee Chair Reyhan Kalyoncu, with the participation of artist Ian Berry, the press and special guests.
In his opening speech, artist Ian Berry said the following about the exhibition: “Istanbul is a fascinating city with its historical and architectural texture, and its fast-paced daily life. I am very happy to be here. When I returned to my parents’ house after university 20 years ago, I had a pile of jeans that I could not wear. At that time, I made a portrait of Tony Blair from newspaper papers and I started working thinking that I could do the same with jeans. It took a few years to establish this technique with denim. While I was unstitching, I was thinking about the people who produced and wore these clothes. I suddenly found myself being thrown into many emotions. Denim became a tool that I used to make the art I wanted to make accessible. Everyone wears denim, so I work with this material. I want everyone to have access to the art I make. Names such as Poet İhsan Raif Hanım and Arif Mardin lived in this mansion where Kalyon Kültür is located. These experiences intertwined with art affected me greatly. I paid attention to the fact that this place was previously a ‘home’ when choosing my works for the exhibition. In this exhibition, our visitors will see both my new works and the works I have exhibited before but renovated according to Kalyon Kültür’s architecture.”
Hosting many artists; Kalyon Holding Social and Cultural Affairs Committee President Reyhan Kalyoncu, who emphasized that the aim of Kalyon Kültür, which inspires poets, writers and painters, is to inspire the society and especially our youth and children, who are the guarantee of the future, by protecting our historical and cultural values that make us who we are, continued her words as follows: “Culture and art activities unite, unify and heal the society. We know that art heals violence, anger and conflict... Art brings together different identities and different cultures in a common language and emotion. That is why we say “art is everyone’s right” and invite everyone from 7 to 70 to discover the colorful and rich world of art. We are excited to host contemporary artist Ian Berry at Kalyon Kültür. Our artist is opening his first exhibition in Turkey at Kalyon Kültür with his exhibition titled “Beyond Denim”. Our exhibition will take you on a journey in a magical world prepared entirely with denim fabric. I hope you enjoy this journey.”
The exhibition’s curator, Kalyon Culture Art Director Aslı Bora, said: “Our artist Ian Berry, who brought us together for this exhibition, is one of the pioneers in the world who associate denim with art and works only with denim. Berry’s works take denim from the realm of powerful phenomena such as the consumption mechanism of the modern world and mass culture and integrate a new discourse for sustainability and social transformation. Our perspective on concepts such as habits and waste is questioned again in this discourse. The audience is invited to a journey in this blue universe, both in their own memory and in the social memory.”
After the speeches; special guests including Gülden Gül, wife of Istanbul Governor Davut Gül, and Deputy Governor Serap Özmen Çetin visited the exhibition accompanied by artist Ian Berry.
Ian Berry, who set out to depict life with all the emotions it contains, renovated the works he selected from his paintings and installations he produced so far in the ‘Beyond Denim’ exhibition according to the architecture of Kalyon Kültür. Among these works are the main works of the exhibition 'Behind Closed Doors', which was also highly acclaimed in London and exhibited in successful museums all over Europe, and Ian's work "Paradise Lost", which depicts the Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles from the 'Hotel California' and shines with only denim. The work "Denim Legends", which consists of answers from denim experts around the world to Berry's question 'Who is Your Denim Legend?' and has been exhibited in museums and galleries as portraits of many famous stars, is also among the works in the exhibition. One of the most interesting works of the exhibition will be Berry's famous work 'Secret Garden', which consists of dozens of hand-made plants and flowers.
On the other hand, artist Kalyon has also prepared new works for this exhibition. The first of these includes a series of 12 animal figures and symbols from Chinese astrology, which the artist associates with luck and positive thinking. Another work Berry created for Turkish audiences is a still life inspired by the 15th century Iznik tiles, characterized by blue and white. The artist's depiction of flowers in a vase creates the illusion that multiple tiles come together.
Source: https://www.cafesiyaset.com/haber/ian-berrynin-turkiyedeki-ilk-sergisi-denim-otesi-beyond-denim-kalyon-kulturde-acildi-h62345.html