Serkan Ozkaya
A Sudden Gust of Wind
April 2010 – March 2011
A site-specific installation commissioned for Proof on Main, Istanbul-based artist,
Serkan Ozkaya's A Sudden Gust of Wind comprises of over 200 sheets of metal
that emulate a stack of papers frozen in motion throughout the dining room. Similar
to Ozkaya’s sculptural installation Bakers
Apprentice (exhibited in Proof in 2009) A Sudden Gust of Wind
alludes to the beauty found in the moments or seconds in between control and chaos
— a frozen moment of explosion without the destruction.
Working from his home country, geographically isolated from many of the world's
great art masterpieces, Ozkaya's work often mimics or recreates iconic art in an
effort to reinterpret them and question their artistic authenticity. Begging the
question, is it the myth or the object that holds the importance? In 2000-2005 he
created a life size foam replica of Michelangelo's David to be installed
atop of one of the hills overlooking Istanbul. Having never seen the actual piece
in person, the work was created on the myth and replicas the artist had seen or
studied. It is by re-contextualizing these iconic works that Ozkaya is able draw
new meanings.
Similarly A Sudden Gust of Wind is the same title given to a well-known
photograph by the Canadian artist Jeff Wall in which a sudden breeze has caught
a briefcase full of papers into a frenzied disorder in the air. Wall's photograph,
in turn, comes from a reference to a 19th century Japanese woodblock print by Katsushika
Hokusai in which nature has caused the minor catastrophe of shuffling some pedestrian's
papers. Rather than the hopeful forces of nature that are alluded to in both Wall's
and Hokusai's work, Ozkaya's installation, set in the restaurant, draws our attention
to the impossibility of a wind that could have created this time capsule of catastrophe.
We are left without the hope of a sudden gust of wind therefore accentuating the
movement and vitality of the surrounding restaurant space.
About the Artist
Based in Instabul, Turkey, Serkan Ozkaya is represented by Slag Gallery, NY. has
exhibited numerously around the world. Encoutering artworks solely through reproductions
in his art training, Ozkaya often uses reproduction and appropriation in his own
work. A variation on A Sudden Gust of Wind has been exhibited at the Boots
Contemporary Art Space, St. Louis in 2008; in addition, previous works by Ozkaya
include Bakers Apprentice
exhibited in Proof on Main and Today Could be a Day of Historical Importance
— a collaboration with five newspapers, one of which was the Courier-Journal.
Ozkaya's recent book Today Could be a Day of Historical Importance is available
soon at the 21c Museum Shop.
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