The Volcano Lover
Galerist is proud to present the exhibition The Volcano Lover, curated by Anlam de Coster. Opening on March 13, the group exhibition brings together nearly 40 artists from various countries in North and South America, Africa, Europe, and Türkiye, exploring the universal symbolism of volcanoes’ creative and destructive power. Spanning from the 18th century to the present, the selection also features newly commissioned works by more than 15 artists.
Since ancient times, volcanoes have fascinated and terrified humanity in our quest to understand our place on earth. They embody a paradoxical duality – at once a harbinger of devastation and a catalyst for renewal. Despite their disastrous reputation, volcanoes were essential to Earth's formation and remain crucial to its habitability.
Recent eruptions at Etna, Kilauea, Stromboli, and Sýlingafell, amongst others, and the threat of Santorini’s reawakening set an apocalyptic backdrop to an era of global upheaval, making their symbolism more resonant than ever. Their eruptions remind us of nature’s uncontrollable power and our fragility, yet they also symbolize the eternal cycles of transformation and fertility emerging from chaos.
Inspired by Susan Sontag’s novel ‘The Volcano Lover: A Romance’, the exhibition constructs an allegorical volcano, inviting artists to explore its rich symbolic dimensions. As a powerful archetype, the volcano embodies the unconscious forces within the human psyche, mirroring dormant primal energies, suppressed desires, latent obsessions, and the cathartic power of an eruptive release.
Beyond the personal, the volcano resonates with collective myths and cultural narratives, often linked to gods, spirits, alchemy and cosmic forces. It acts as a threshold between the earthly and the divine, offering a portal to the underworld and the possibility of rebirth following a tumultuous journey in subterranean realms.
Through this multifaceted lens, The Volcano Lover unveils how artists channel the metaphor of the volcano to investigate the depths of the human experience. The exhibition, which will be on view until April 26, brings together works by Melike Abasıyanık Kurtiç, Beatrice Arraes, Dalya Baruh, Lysandre Begijn, Hera Büyüktaşcıyan, Alex Červený, Sophie Dries, Pietro Fabris, Azzurra Galatolo, Dimitris Gketsis, Cecilia Granara, Başak Günak, Mariana Hahn, Jen Hitchings, Ahmet Doğu İpek, Merve İşeri, Marie Jacotey, Onur Kılıç, Stanislao Lepri, Yıldız Moran, Lara Ögel, Zoë Paul, Anousha Payne, Moritz Eduard Pechuël-Loesche, Camila Rocha, Thiago Rocha Pitta, Friedrich Rehberg, Johanna Seidel, Yusuf Sevinçli, Pari Sofianou, Giorgio Sommer, Ayla Tavares, Ayça Telgeren, Margaret R. Thompson, Gina Tibbott, Elif Uras, Burcu Yağcıoğlu, and Robert Wilson. 19 of these artists are being showcased in Türkiye for the first time.
The Volcano Lover will be on view until April 26 and can be visited between 11.00 and 19.00, except on Sundays.
With the support of | Consulate General of Brasil in İstanbul, Instuto Guimães Rosa, Tiziana Terenzi, and the Marmara Group.
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Elif Uras, Nature’s Kiln, 2025
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Elif Uras, Kundalini, 2025
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Elif Uras, Kundalini 2, 2025
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Elif Uras, Shakti, 2025
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Sophie Dries, Traces, 2017
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Ayça Telgeren, Growing Pains, 2025
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Stanislao Lepri, Il Vulcano, 1968
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Azzurra Galatolo, Blooms, 2024
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Azzurra Galatolo, Evolution, 2024
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Zoë Paul, When You Are Sad, When You Are Alone, When No One Else Comes You Can Summon Spirits to Keep You Company - Pyrrha, 2025
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Zoë Paul, When You Are Sad, When You Are Alone, When No One Else Comes You Can Summon Spirits to Keep You Company - Deukalion, 2025
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Alex Červený, Nem mais, Nem Menos, 2025
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Anousha Payne, A Return to Herself (Tenderly Moored), 2023
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Anousha Payne, Home Rising (Pareidolia), 2023
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Dimitris Gketsis, Liquid Souls, 2023
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Camila Rocha, Earth's surface Series, Yōtei, 2025
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Camila Rocha, The First Plant's Landscape on Planet Earth, 2024
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Melike Abasıyanık Kurtiç, Untitled, Undated
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Melike Abasıyanık Kurtiç, Untitled, Udated
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Ahmet Doğu İpek, Caecus and Albino, 2025
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Jen Hitchings, 24 Hours (Yellowstone, with milkweed thistles), 2024
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Dalya Baruh, Untitled, 2021 - 2024
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Dalya Baruh, Untitled, 2021 - 2024
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Lara Ögel, In the Arms of the Abyss, 2025
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Lara Ögel, The Molten Word, 2025
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Ayla Tavares, Fossil 9, 2025
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Ayla Tavares, At the Edge of a Rock, A Piece of Sky, 2025
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Beatrice Arraes, Subterrâneo, 2025
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Beatrice Arraes, Seio, 2025
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Yıldız Moran, Untitled, Nevşehir, Cappadocia, Turkey, 1957
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Yıldız Moran, Untitled, Pamukkale, Denizli, Turkey, 1955
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Yıldız Moran, Untitled, Ağrı, Turkey, 1957
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Pari Sofianou, Pandora’s Box, 2025
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Giorgio Sommer, Pompeii, Italy, Foro Civile, Smoke Rising from Vesuvius, c. 1880
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Giorgio Sommer, Amphitheater of Pompeii, c. 1880
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19th Century Italian School, Bay of Naples, Vesuvius night eruption, c. 1822
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Johanna Seidel, The Hermit, 2024
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Pietro Fabris, Campi Phlegraei. Observations on the Volcanos of the Two Sicilies, As They Have Been Communicated to the Royal Society of London by Sir William Hamilton, 1776
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Pietro Fabris, Campi Phlegraei. Observations on the Volcanos of the Two Sicilies, As They Have Been Communicated to the Royal Society of London by Sir William Hamilton, 1776
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Eduard Pechuël-Loesche, Red Sunset at the End of the Rainy Season. (Evening) — Loango Coast (present-day Republic of Congo) April 1st 1875., 1888
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Eduard Pechuël-Loesche, Violet Twilight Glow at the Time of the Grass Fires. (Evening) — Loango Coast (present-day Republic of Congo), 1888
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Friedrich Rehberg, Lady Hamilton pleurant la mort de Lord Nelson, c. 1805
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Mariana Hahn, Print of a young woman (echtachrome) sculptural piece, 2021
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Cecilia Granara, Eruzione Di Cuore, 2025
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Cecilia Granara, Transcendere, 2025
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Cecilia Granara & Marta Colombo Cypel, Staring at the Sun, 2023
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Margaret R. Thompson, Sky Mirror, 2024
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Margaret R. Thompson, Portrait of an Artist, 2025
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Merve İşeri, Ink Composition XVII, 2025
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Merve İşeri, Ink Composition XII, 2025
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Merve İşeri, Ink Composition X, 2025
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Onur Kılıç, Untitled, 2024
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Onur Kılıç, The Ship, 2024
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Thiago Rocha Pitta, The Shadow of the Volcano, 2020
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Thiago Rocha Pitta, Poliferno, 2024
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Thiago Rocha Pitta, The Invisible Volcano, 2024
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Lysandre Begijn, Swamp Swallow Me, 2023
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Hera Büyüktaşcıyan, Icons for Tired Skin / Vol.7, 2025
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Hera Büyüktaşcıyan, Icons for Tired Skin / Vol.6, 2024
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Hera Büyüktaşcıyan, Icons for Tired Skin / Vol.3, 2024
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Gina Tibbott, Vesuvius Dish, 2025
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Lara Ögel, In the Arms of the Abyss, 2025
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Lara Ögel, The Molten Word, 2025
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Ayla Tavares, Fossil 9, 2025
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Ayla Tavares, At the Edge of a Rock, A Piece of Sky, 2025
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Beatrice Arraes, Subterrâneo, 2025
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Beatrice Arraes, Seio, 2025
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Yıldız Moran, Untitled, Nevşehir, Cappadocia, Turkey, 1957
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Yıldız Moran, Untitled, Pamukkale, Denizli, Turkey, 1955
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Yıldız Moran, Untitled, Ağrı, Turkey, 1957
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Pari Sofianou, Pandora’s Box, 2025
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Roland Topor, Nagisa Oshima film “Empire de la Passion”, c. 1980
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Giorgio Sommer, Pompeii, Italy, Foro Civile, Smoke Rising from Vesuvius, c. 1880
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Giorgio Sommer, Amphitheater of Pompeii, c. 1880
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Robert Wilson, For Semiha, 1999
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19th Century Italian School, Bay of Naples, Vesuvius night eruption, c. 1822
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Johanna Seidel, The Hermit, 2024
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Pietro Fabris, Campi Phlegraei. Observations on the Volcanos of the Two Sicilies, As They Have Been Communicated to the Royal Society of London by Sir William Hamilton, 1776
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Pietro Fabris, Campi Phlegraei. Observations on the Volcanos of the Two Sicilies, As They Have Been Communicated to the Royal Society of London by Sir William Hamilton, 1776
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Eduard Pechuël-Loesche, Violet Twilight Glow at the Time of the Grass Fires. (Evening) — Loango Coast (present-day Republic of Congo), 1888
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Eduard Pechuël-Loesche, Red Sunset at the End of the Rainy Season. (Evening) — Loango Coast (present-day Republic of Congo) April 1st 1875., 1888
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Friedrich Rehberg, Lady Hamilton pleurant la mort de Lord Nelson, c. 1805
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Marie Jacotey, BRR, 2025
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Mariana Hahn, Print of a young woman (echtachrome) sculptural piece, 2021
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Mariana Hahn, Inner Earth Eggs, 2017
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Cecilia Granara, Eruzione Di Cuore, 2025
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Cecilia Granara, Transcendere, 2025
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Cecilia Granara & Marta Colombo Cypel, Staring at the Sun, 2023
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Gina Tibbott, Vesuvius Dish, 2025
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Margaret R. Thompson, Sky Mirror, 2024
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Margaret R. Thompson, Portrait of an Artist, 2025
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Merve İşeri, Ink Composition X, 2025
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Merve İşeri, Ink Composition XII, 2025
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Merve İşeri, Ink Composition XVII, 2025
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Onur Kılıç, Untitled, 2024
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Onur Kılıç, The Ship, 2024
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Melike Abasıyanık Kurtiç, Untitled, Udated
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Thiago Rocha Pitta, The Shadow of the Volcano, 2020
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Thiago Rocha Pitta, Poliferno, 2024
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Thiago Rocha Pitta, The Invisible Volcano, 2024
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Lysandre Begijn, Swamp Swallow Me, 2023
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Hera Büyüktaşcıyan, Icons for Tired Skin / Vol.6, 2024
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Hera Büyüktaşcıyan, Icons for Tired Skin / Vol.3, 2024