Seyrantepe Industrial District is a region chosen by artists living and producing in Istanbul for their workshops for different reasons. The exhibition is completely inspired by the artists who have a workshop in Seyrantepe Industrial District, and considering the purpose of the beginning-formation-production, Summart's presence in this region adds meaning to the meaning of the exhibition.


The Landscapes from Industry Exhibition is curated by Nazlı Pektaş and featured artists whose workshops are located in this region: Mahmut Aydın, Can Aytekin, Mahmut Celayir, Antonio Cosentino, Ahmet Elhan, Leyla Emadi, İnci Furni, Aynur Önürmen, İrfan Önürmen, Kemal Seyhan Rüçhan Şahinoğlu and Demet Yalçınkaya. A selection of works produced in accordance with the conceptual framework of the exhibition.


Seyrantepe Industrial District is a region chosen by artists living and producing in Istanbul for their workshops for different reasons. The exhibition is completely inspired by the artists who have a workshop in Seyrantepe Industrial District, and considering the purpose of the beginning-formation-production, Summart's presence in this region adds meaning to the meaning of the exhibition.

The starting point of the exhibition was Nazlı Pektaş's visit to the workshops of Seyrantepe Sanayi upon the invitation of Ahmet Elhan and Rüçhan Şahinoğlu. The moment Pektaş entered the workshop, he said, "We should hold an exhibition with the works produced here," and immediately shared his thoughts with his artist friends. Thus, the foundation of the exhibition was laid, which draws its inspiration from the artists whose workshops are located in the industrial zone. When the subjects at the center of the exhibition are combined with the artists and the existence of Summart as a gallery in the industrial zone, the Landscapes from Industry Exhibition invites art lovers to visit a place we do not go to unless it is necessary.


The "landscape", of which Nazlı Pektaş said "the landscape is my metaphor here", appears both as itself and as a strong metaphor in the works in the exhibition. The windows, streets, street names and doors of the twelve artists who have workshops in the Seyrantepe Industrial Site. The "Landscapes from Industry" exhibition offers the audience a very important selection on the impact of the place where the artist lives and produces on his works, with the works they produce by being influenced by the front view, the working workers, the cardboard and paper warehouses around them, waste materials, different places, and child workers.


Again, many of the works produced for Landscapes from Industry, which Pektaş interprets as "It is an exhibition in which artists show what remains of themselves, from the streets, depths, walls, smell, sound, intestines, sky, what they hide / show, what they have accumulated / sprayed and from inside / outside the industrial zone" While most of them focus on the location of the artists' workshops and the production there, accumulation/storage and disposal, some others focus on/inside the workshop itself.

As part of the exhibition, Mahmut Aydın includes the ordinariness of corrugated cardboard in his sculpture titled "Traces". Can Aytekin proposes the transformation of the material throughout history by using colorful perforated flower pots in his installation "Plant Pots". Demet Yalçınkaya points to the warehouse with her painting "In its Place". This place was created to collect industrial waste and transform it into something else and create a new economy. Everything collected is stored here. Mahmut Celayir, who shares the same workshop, attributes his connection with the landscape to his problem with geography in his work titled "Collectors". Antonio Cosentino reflected the ordinary, daily and intimate neighborhood with his photographs, paintings and small sculptures. Ahmet Elhan's space installation called "Neither inside nor completely outside" is actually a photograph taken from the window of his workshop. Leyla Emadi wrote the reason for the city's amnesia on the wall with the text "RANISTAN!" In her work called "Star Street", İnci Furuni, apart from being the name of a street where her workshop is located in the industry, made a reference by using the dividing and obstructing material made of trapezoidal sheet metal, which we frequently encounter in construction sites. Aynur Önürmen sculptures are made of industrial waste sponges. With his installation titled "Apprentice", İrfan Önürmen depicts child labor and labor exploitation accompanied by found objects. On the wall named "Dallas", consisting of Kemal Seyhan's works, his own works accompany the heaps and collected finds accumulated in the industry. Rüçhan Sarıoğlu's paintings titled "Outside" are familiar but foreign places whose addresses we do not know.


"Views from Industry", curated by Nazlı Pektaş, sheds light on the history of the region, its present, and the views of all the industrial zone landscapes that live, work and labor in it, starting from the reason why the artists chose the industrial zone as a production site. It can be visited at Summart between 5 October - 30 November 2023.

*The Landscapes from Industry exhibition catalog was used as a source.

Author: Ömür Bayramoğlu
Source: https://www.murekkephaber.com/summart-sanat-merkezi-nde-sanayi-den-manzaralar-sergisi/16248/