Purple Head: Evren Tekinoktay

Galerist Akaretler hosts the new exhibition titled ‘Purple Head’’ by the artist Evren Tekinoktay between the dates of November 17th and December 24th.

Tekinoktay creates a social language with original and new symbols by means of the collages she composes with cutout paper pieces, patterns and magazine images printed on opaque-like paper.

The artist, following her exhibition ‘Eldorado’ she realized in Galerist in 2009, published her book titled Black Egg (2010). Tekinoktay, who most recently published her book with the same title of her personal exhibition “U” in Copenhagen, is an artist who produces new works from present paintings by consuming them. Tekinoktay is preparing to bring her ‘Collage Series’ in small and large formats, together with art-lovers of Istanbul. 

Signs or visual elements in Tekinoktay’s works find their meaning with regard to the context. Circle that is among the forms often repeated, depending on those that surround it, might be perceived as the ear of a mouse or as one of the holes in a cheese. A mouse that reshapes the cheese by consuming it; and in the same manner a collage artist who produces new works from paintings by consuming them.   

Some monochrome planes that form Tekinoktay’s complex compositions, bring back again the censorship strips within Turkish press that take their place among the childhood memories of the artist of Turkish origin.

Color planes – based on geometric shapes – cover pictures of naked women cut out from Denmark’s old Variete magazines. The focus is not on sex but on gender with all its ambivalence and ambiguity.

Evren Tekinoktay, who lives and works in Copenhagen, has colorful collaborations also with the fashion industry. Following the collection she created in inspiration of the New Yorker designer Jill Stuart, Tekinoktay is now preparing the Fall/Winter 2012 collection of the famous label of Denmark Moonspoon Saloon, which will be shown in London Fashion Week. 

The Approach in London, Galerist in Istanbul and Zwinger Galerie in Berlin are among the places where the artist (1972, Denmark) held a personal exhibition; in addition she participated in many group exhibitions like Frankfurter Kunstverein in Frankfurt and Badischer Kunstverein in Karlsruhe.