BIENNALE | FURTHER AWAY, 6TH MARDIN BIENNALE

Galerist is pleased to announce Serkan Özkaya’s participation at the 6th Mardin Biennale. The biennial curated by Ali Akay, which will take place between May 10 - June 10, 2024, asks questions about how we can go beyond all the artistic, political and sociological problems we are experiencing today under the title "Further Away".

 

"Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror", inspired by John Ashbery's "Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror,” which references Parmigianino’s painting, uses a curved surface to create a self-portrait that reacts uniquely to the viewer's angle. The mirror's design creates a strange effect: when viewers move, the reflection moves opposite, challenging their perception of space.

In this innovative approach, observers immersed in the anamorphosis become part of the spatial construction that immediately makes visual sense on the reflective dome. Essentially, the dome interprets the space around it in a way that renders it intelligible to the human eye. The portrait thus inverts and re-inverts the dynamics of seeing and being seen. The dome is activated by the viewer, yet the viewer is no longer at the focal center; the dome is, simultaneously occupying the roles of artist, artwork, and observer.

May 9, 2024