Published in City Brief
Hatice Utkan
Outlet is following the trail of a new art language developing between the Balkans and the Middle East.
After Pakistani artist Hamra Abbas, the gallery is opening the new season with Kosovar artist Jakup Ferri. “Çekirdek Instead of Leblebi,” the first solo show of Ferri in Istanbul, will feature drawings, photos, paper mosaics and video works from the artist between Sept. 21 and Oct. 30.
Ferri examines the relationship between the invisibility of non-Western art and the artist’s position in the periphery with the video “An Artist Who Does Not Speak English Is No Artist.”
Ferri, who is considered one of the most productive and creative artists in the Balkans and was one of the youngest artists at the 9th Istanbul Biennial, escapes from this invisibility and captivity through his absurd video.
In his striking works that are produced either through a webcam video or through infantile drawings, people and objects become alienated from their surroundings. His works discuss the issue of cultural identity, the Balkans’ turbulent history and the cynicism of the art world. While doing so, he recursively recalls memories from his personal background and childhood.
Ferri, who regards drawings, mosaics and videos as parts of a whole, appears as the main protagonist in most of his works. In this first solo exhibition in Istanbul, he is presenting the videos “Outside the circle” and “Dot-line-dot” shot with an amateur camera in home-like settings as well as “Homemade Marmalade.” In all of his videos, the main problem appears as “a conscious unveiling of irony which becomes a ridiculous expression of a work’s absurd criticism.”
This exhibition is the first comprehensive appearance for Ferri in Istanbul since the 9th Istanbul Biennial. It presents the artist’s most recent drawings and mosaics for the first time. By cutting the paper wastes into little pieces, Ferri transforms them into little drops of color in mosaics and invites the viewer into an illusion show. When the simplest material meets with Ferri’s scissor cuts and glue, the pieces of paper turn into mosaics themselves and feel like stone.
Ferri is part of a younger generation of Kosovar artists who are in search of a new language that focus on revealing the politics of daily life. Rather than responding directly to local and daily politics, he chooses to adopt a different attitude by making references to the international art scene, from Yoko Ono and Marina Abromovic to Samuel Beckett and Mladen Stilinovic.
He has also contributed to Niet Normaal (Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam), e-flux Video Rental (KW Institute, Berlin), Macro (Mattatoio, Roma), In den Schluchten des Balkan (Kunsthalle Fridericianum Kassel). He has also been awarded the Artists of Tomorrow prize, the GfZK Future of Europe prize, as well as the Buning Brongers prize.
He lives and works in Amsterdam.
“Çekirdek Instead of Leblebi” will run until Oct. 30.
Outlet: Boğazkesen Cad. Kadirler Yok. No.69, Tophane.