Ferhat Özgür ‘I Can Sing’,
PS 1 MOMA, NEW YORK
25 October 2012-31 December 2012
Curator:
Klaus Biesenbach, Director, MoMA PS1, and Chief Curator at
Large, The Museum of Modern Art.
22-25
Jackson Ave. at the intersection of 46th Ave.
Long
Island City, NY 11101
(718) 784-2084
Ferhat Özgür’s
(1965-Ankara) practice critiques contemporary political realities with humor
and irony. Living and working in Istanbul, Özgür principally focuses upon the
relationship of the individual with society, using his work as a space within
which individuality can be expressed in spite of the context of oppressive
environments.
Özgür‘s video I Can Sing
(2008), depicts an Anatolian woman in a headscarf, standing before a backdrop
of contemporary Ankara featuring minarets alongside the ever-expanding sprawl
of urban development. The woman’s lips move in conflict with the soundtrack of
Jeff Buckley’s cover version of Leonard Cohen’s classic song “Hallelujah”. Her
personal lament becomes a lament for the disappearance of cultural traditions
and identities in the wake of western homogenization. She appears to both
praise and despair, but the lines between Islam and Christianity, Western
influence and Turkish tradition are blurred--suggesting that change is being
both embraced and shunned. She is an embodiment of societal upheaval and
change. Even the major key of the Western popular song is an indicator of
uprooting as it obliterates the minor tones characteristic of Turkish music.
Ferhat Özgür graduated from Gazi University, Education Faculty,
Department Of Painting in 1989. Having completed his master and doctorate
studies in Hacettepe University Fine Arts Faculty, Department of Painting in
1997, he was appointed to the same department as academic where he has taught
for nearly two decades. He currently works and teaches in Istanbul Kültür
University, Art and Design Faculty, Department of Communication Design
(Multimedia). Özgür took part in the 6th Berlin Biennale, the 10th Istanbul
Biennale and 3rd Örebro Open Art Biennale-Sweeden, 1st Mardin Biennale and
Sinopale 1, 3, Çanakkale Biennale 2012, Turkey, 8th Cairo Biennale. His works have been exhibited in
numerous venues including, Centre George Pompidou-Paris, Haus der Kulturen Der
Welt-Berlin, Museum der Moderne Salzburg, MUMOK-Wien, Fondazione Sandretto Re
Rebaudengo-Turin, Mattress Factory Art Museum-Pittsburgh, Casino Luxembourg Forum
d’art Comtemporaine, Magazin 4 Bregenz-Austria, Zone Contemporaine-Bern etc.
For further
detail: http://momaps1.org/exhibitions/view/362
