Ahmet Güneştekin. Million Stone
Venice Art Biennale 2015, Santa Maria della Pietà
The Million Stone, the fourth-century mile-marker monument, emblematic point of departure for the measurement of all roads leading to the cities of the Byzantine Empire, at the same time symbol of masculine power due to its intrisic cultural term: the phallus. The legend of Lilith, the Sumer goddess of fertility and agriculture who was later demonised, known as the first rebellion against masculine domination.
The history and the power of relations of a city, Istanbul, once believed to be the centre of the world, a city with many names, a crossroads for different cultures and religions, where each and every power and political force have changed the name and former cultural texture of the city by renaming it in association with their own identities.
The fundamental consideration that Divine Religions are continuations of each other.These are the conceptual elements that internationally renowned Turkish artist Ahmet Güneştekin will reinterpretate to transform the fascinating 600 square metre complex of the Pietà into the Million Stone / Milion Taşı.
Curated by Matthew Drutt, well-known American editor, writer, and independent curator, and commissioned by the Marlborough Gallery, this exhibition presents eight recent new works by Güneştekin, works capable of evoking atavic symbolisms and bring powerful messages in a display that will surely capture people's attention.Güneştekin is an eclectic self-taught artist who makes free use of unconventional techniques, which unfold from his personal artistic experimentation unrestricted by his lack of academic training.
His production is charged with the recollection of a vernacular art, with markedly geometrical motifs drawn from carpets, lamps and Ottoman copperware. In all his works, the characters, symbols and scenes speak of ancient times, intertwining in symbolic tales touching on the essential questions of humankind.
Text credit: My Art Guides
Commissioned by: Marlborough Gallery
Curator: Matthew Drutt
