Balkan Naci İslimyeli 35th Anniversary Art Events I.

"MATAH"

Balkan Naci İslimyeli, who held his first exhibition in 1970 while still a student, celebrates his 35th year in art with a series of events. The artist presents the first of these events, his project named "MATAH," in two separate venues, with forms of Performance-Video-Photograph and Installation.

Taking place at "4L Elgiz Contemporary Art Museum Project Room: Artvarium" and "Millî Reasürans Gallery" from March to April 2006, the artist will present approximately 70 pieces of "garment-sculpture" designs on live models and in installation forms.

Having made a striking start with his exhibition "Straight-Jacket" in New York in 1990, where he utilized "garment canvases," the artist continued this concept with his installations "Lament for Dead Girls" in 2003 and "Children Who Couldn't Go to School" in Sarajevo in 2005.

The acronym "MATAH," derived from the words "Mahmutpaşa-Tahtakale," encompasses garment-sculptures created by the artist from hundreds of different products produced for non-clothing purposes in this vast field. In the performance/exhibition event consisting of 7 parts and containing different titles, the artist questions the concept of clothing as a social "signifier" by deconstructing it and shifting the functionality from the plane of "ready-made" concept to a different functionality within his own world.

The designs realized by the artist, along with installations consisting of lifeless mannequins, a video, and photographs, will be presented at the Millî Reasürans Art Gallery from March 9th to April 15th. A performance will start at 18:30 on Monday, March 13th, 2006, at the Project 4L Elgiz Contemporary Art Museum Project Room: Artvarium, continuing with an exhibition until April 30th. Additionally, a catalogue for the "Matah" exhibition has been published by the Millî Reasürans Art Gallery.