Turkish art goes to Madrid Museum

The latest exhibition by famous Turkish contemporary artist Halil Altindere is opening at Madrid's CA2M Museum from Feb. 8 to June 3. By means of videos, photo works, and sculptures, Altındere analyzes the reality of Turkey by underlining the tensions that generate binomials such as tradition/modernity, nation/identity and society/government. Simultaneously, he draws attention to the notions of community and control, delving into the nature of power. The exhibition features many unseen works of Altindere. CA2M reviews Altindere's work under three basic lines. The first, and most important, follows his positioning regarding contemporary Turkish society, subject to intense changes over the last few decades. For this, Altindere frequently includes symbols from the system such as bills and official documents, elements from folk tradition, or from topical images that all together build up the collective imagination. The work is ironic, based on the imprecise space of multiple interpretations, playing humorously between the artist and the viewer. The discussion of the notion of authority forms a great part of Altindere's work, often as tiny narratives that string surprises and absurdity. This exhibition also targets the attitude of the artist towards a globalized art world. The shift of his working method - both critical and challenging - toward other contexts launches a mechanism that question art itself.