Horseless Horseman: NAZIM ÜNAL YILMAZ

Nazım Ünal Yılmaz’s second solo exhibition at Galerist, Horseless Horseman opens on January 16. Through works that explore the subject-object and human-animal relationships, the artist creates a visual narrative that questions power dynamics. 

In classical philosophy, individuals who shape their lives, along with the societies and groups that determine their futures, are traditionally regarded as subjects. However, the so-called new world order in which we have supposedly existed for centuries, along with the process of intellectual deconstruction, has transformed the subject-object relationship into something akin to the chicken-and-egg dilemma. Today, the boundaries between subject and object are highly blurred – much like the distinction between human and animal. Modern thought emerged from its first trial questioning the subject’s power of self-determination deeply exhausted. But what does this have to do with the exhibition Horseless Horseman? 

The Austrian poet H.C. Artmann asserts that one can be a poet without having so much as written or spoken a single word, as long as there is a desire to act poetically. Fusing the poet with their object, the poem, while embracing a concept of beauty that functions across an expansive domain, he writes; “There is a premise which is unassailable, namely that one can be a poet even without ever having written or spoken a single word. However the prerequisite is the more or less felt wish to act poetically. The alogical gesture can itself be performed such that it is raised to an act of outstanding beauty. Ineed to poetry”. With a similar belief, Nazım Ünal Yılmaz prepares for this exhibition, drawing inspiration from Artmann’s verses to interpret the subject-object relationship not as a debate but as an ironic poem. This perspective also leads to the exhibition’s title; Horseless Horseman is the product of a thought process shaped by subject/object dualities, much like a ropeless tightrope walker or a paintless painter. 

In Horseless Horseman, the figures appear as objectified bodies: communities, competitors, an combatants that are seemingly active yet rendered passive. Horses, meanwhile, are depicted as Kafkaesque subjects, transcending their conventional associations with freedom, independence, and power. They stand trial, or are carried on stretchers. 

While rhythm and colour are central to the works, their initial resonance with the intuitive German painting tradition gives way, upon closer inspection, to compositions that are analytical and collage-like. The spectators are invited to uncover symbolic and conceptual connections between the images and canvases to derive meaning. The installation within the gallery space allows the monolithic canvases to be interpreted both individually and collectively. 

Accompanied by a catalogue text written by Alexander Koch, Horseless Horseman will run until February 22, 2025; open Tuesday to Saturday, between 11.00 and 19.00.