Contemporary art world in İstanbul is driven more and more by a growing number of talented female artists. I tie the ‘domination’ of female artists in the contemporary art scene to the challenges of being a woman in Turkey which finds its creative expression through art.
İnci Eviner is an exceptional one among these artists. I had come across Eviner through her work titled Harem in 2009 and was struck by her work and have been trying to follow her ever since. Harem brings a completely new gaze to the Ottoman harem in contrast to the ‘gaze of the Orientalists’. Eviner says ‘“In contrast to the Orientalist tendencies of the period, there are no dramatic or seductive expressions. Women, illustrated with almost scientific precision, look as if they are thrown out of time.” Note that Harem was banned by Qatar’s Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art where Eviner was invited to display her work during an exhibition dedicated to the Orientalist painter Jean Leon Gerome. There was no official explanation as to why it was banned but it is quite obvious that her critical gaze must have disturbed the authorities in Qatar.
Eviner is a painter by academic training but has been actively producing sculptures, installations and video art for decades. She has participated in İstanbul, Venice, Taiwan, Thessaloniki, Shanghai and Busan Biennials and had exhibitions in museums across the world such as Philadelphia Museum of Art, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art and Palais de Beaux Arts.
She represented Turkey in the Venice Biennale with her work titled ‘We, Elsewhere’ in 2019.
She is a very active artist so one can come across an exhibition of Eviner each year. If you are visiting İstanbul and curious about the contemporary art scene, an Eviner exhibition might be the right place to start! You will be drawn into her world where she blends the archaic with the modern, classic ideals with the fractured realities of the present, the sane with the uncanny. She is definitely one of a kind!
On an Island’s nerve endings, 2024, Dirimart Gallery
‘Huri’s and Travelers, 2022, Dirimart
Visit İnci Eviner’s website at https://incieviner.net/
