Young artist Ilgaz Gürün focuses on the unseen face of daily life with his first solo exhibition “On Being” at Evin Art Gallery. He invites the audience to an uncanny yet familiar journey with unusual frames, dramatic lights and oddities within the ordinary.
Young artist Ilgaz Gürün, a graduate of Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, leaves the audience alone with the invisible face of daily life with his first solo exhibition “On Being” at Evin Art Gallery. With dramatic lights, unusual frames and oddities within the ordinary, Gürün presents an uncanny yet familiar world to the audience. Gürün, who says that the idea for the exhibition came about quite suddenly, states that it was not possible to prepare an exhibition consisting only of contemporary works due to time constraints. We got together with the artist on the occasion of this exhibition; we talked about many topics from the creative process to the loneliness of the figures, from the distance he establishes with reality to his narrative relationship with the audience.
How did the “On Being” exhibition come about? What influenced you to choose this theme?
The idea for the exhibition actually came about very suddenly. There was no time to prepare an exhibition consisting entirely of contemporary works, but since it was such a great opportunity for me, I didn’t want to miss it. That’s why we decided to prepare an exhibition that would bring together my old works from my undergraduate years and my current works. When choosing the theme, we wanted to choose a theme that would encompass all the works produced at different times and different levels of maturity together with Evin Sanat.
How do “funny or incongruous” situations in daily life catch you? Is noticing these moments a reflex that develops over time?
“Noticing” is a reflex that develops as a professional deformation, I think. You pay more attention to the things happening around you, even if unintentionally, because you know that you are using them as material. But in Turkey, you don’t have to make an effort to capture funny or incongruous situations in particular. They find you anyway.
What does finding the strangeness or the story in the ordinary mean to you?
When you try to make something especially strange, it seems artificial to me. However, when you find that strangeness in a situation that is accepted as ordinary, it feels much more original and humorous. You know that it develops spontaneously, that it is natural. You try to dig into the situation at hand, notice the connections and reach the whole story. After a while, it starts to feel like a game.
The dramatic light and unusual frames in the works in the exhibition surprise the viewer. What kind of visual language did you want to create behind these choices?
You can never fit everyday life into a clear frame. You cannot talk about the main characters or clearly concluded events as in a fiction. That is why I prefer to adjust my frames in a way that they go beyond the frame of the picture and create uncertainties. I try to create uncanny atmospheres where the viewer is uncertain about how to react. The shadows created by dramatic lights and frames cut in strange shapes help me to create such atmospheres.
What is your relationship with photography when creating compositions? How do you choose the frames you use as references?
I benefit a lot from photography and photographers. When I come across an interesting scene, I try to capture it immediately. Sometimes I use the photo I took years later or never use it at all, but I try to keep everything that might be useful in a corner of my mind. Sometimes I use people around me as models and create reference photos myself in order to transfer the compositions in my mind to the painting.
Are there any points when you distance yourself from reality while playing with realism?
I think you can never reach reality in art anyway. Even if you produce a hyperrealistic work or approach your content with a very objective perspective, there is always a certain distance between you and reality. Therefore, being realistic is not something I specifically aim for, it is an element that I can sacrifice if necessary according to the needs of the painting.
Humor and absurd elements are also sensed in your works. How do you balance these elements?
I think humor is something that loses its effect when it is too obvious and obvious. That is why I prefer it to be conveyed in a subtle, simple and natural way. Instead of building a painting only on humorous elements and the absurd, I am careful to keep them as elements that support the content.
Based on the title of a work like “The Fundamentals of Being Human”, I would like to ask: What do you think are the foundations of being human?
I think the foundation of being human is that it is temporary. We all live an average of 70-80 years in a universe that is billions of years old. During this time, we invent certain concepts, languages and values and define ourselves with them. We embrace the “human” identity we create and this state of existence. That’s why we are very afraid of not existing one day or being forgotten. I think we need to remember more often that there is a radical difference in time between the time we never existed and the 70-80 years we spent as humans.
The figures in your works are mostly alone and settled in space. What do you think about this loneliness or sense of belonging?
The fact that the figures are alone is a choice I make depending on the content I am dealing with or the atmosphere I want to create, it is not something I particularly want to emphasize. However, the relationship between the figures and the space surrounding them is something I pay attention to in terms of the integrity of the painting. I try to compose the painting by considering the figure and the space as a whole. Maybe this is what creates the sense of belonging.
It is as if we are completing the story of the characters in your paintings. What kind of narrative relationship do you think is established between you and the viewer?
I also want the viewer to complete the story. I think the fact that the painting writes its own story from the moment it comes out of me and is exhibited, is interpreted in different ways, and is associated with contexts that change according to the personal experiences of the viewer makes the painting more lively. In order to be more open to such interpretations, I often focus on the atmosphere rather than the content.
This is your first solo exhibition. What made the preparation process most difficult and easy?
Since I am a person who is meticulous and works slowly, the time factor was the most difficult for me. Evin Art Gallery helped me a lot in everything else.
How did the education you received at Mimar Sinan affect your approach to art today?
The Mimar Sinan painting department is divided into 5 studios. When you enter the school, you are randomly placed in one of them. Studio No. 1, which I entered and graduated from, had a very free and liberal system. This situation made it very difficult for me in the first few years because as someone starting from scratch, you have to find your own way among unlimited possibilities, but when I look back, I think this attitude is ideal for the student's originality.
This exhibition is a starting point for you. What themes or narratives do you plan to follow from now on?
Frankly, I don’t know either. I think it’s better not to know. I think it will be more sincere for it to develop naturally according to my current sensitivities, but I can say that I will continue with narratives that focus on people.
Of course, the artist does not necessarily have to give a message to the audience with the works he makes. But what feelings and thoughts do you think the visitors of the exhibition leave with?
It is very difficult for me to put my own feelings and thoughts aside and look at the exhibition through someone else’s eyes. Because I spend a lot of time with these works while working on them, I try to make the right decisions during production, but on the other hand, I also know the flaws of the works. That’s why I become alienated from them and cannot guess the audience’s thoughts. I think it will take a few years for me to be able to answer this question.
Reporter: Ahmet Çağatay Bayraktar
source: https://www.24saatgazetesi.com/olmak-uzerine-ilgaz-gurunden-gundelik-hayata-tekinsiz-bir-bakis