While most Istanbul art galleries renew themselves during the summer months, some mark their sign with a new style in the art scene. As the contemporary art scene expands and begins to host more international artists from the world art scene, Istanbul galleries expand and bring a new breath of fresh air to the city’s art scene.
Some change their venues, some open new branches and some even change their names and renew everything.
Among those changing galleries, Outlet, which was located in a venue in Boğazkesen, is now left as an empty space. The directors of the gallery, Azra Tüzünoğlu and Amira Bıyıkoğlu, first decided to expand the venue to have a larger storage. “However,” said Tüzünoğlu, “during our search for a new storage gallery we found a place that interested us a lot in the Sıraselviler neighborhood in the central Beyoğlu district.”
Those who know the 1970s night life of Istanbul would recognize the new Pilot art gallery venue. “This place was a very popular nightclub during the 70s called ES Kulüp. During those times, famous Turkish actors, artists and singers such as Ediz Hun and Zeki Müren visited the venue.”
It is known that during the 70s, Sıraselviler was the area for nightclubs. “There were few very popular and large clubs in Istanbul. One of them was ES Kulüp and another was Gar Gazinosu,” said the owners. “Last week, the owner of Gar Gazinosu came to the gallery and asked if we are opening the venue again,” said Bıyıkoğlu.
The venue was closed for 30 years. “That’s why the construction period took 16 months,” said Bıyıkoğlu.
But the owners had a dream when they first saw the venue. “It was a huge mess, but we imagined that this place could be a really beautiful art gallery,” she added.
They decided to buy the venue and create a new art space for Istanbul. “However, we also wanted to change the title of the gallery, because we realized this was not a suitable project for Outlet.”
They decided that the venue should be a new gallery with a new name and choose the title “Pilot.”
“Pilot can be both read in Turkish and English and it means the same thing in both languages,” said Amira Bıyıkoğlu.
Currently the gallery has a large showroom, storage for all the works. “We also want to make a huge library,” said Tüzünoğlu.
“It is important for us to create this library; we aim to bring 8,000 books via an e-book system. The Pilot gallery will be ready Sept. 16. The opening exhibition will be Halil Altındere’s solo exhibition. But we also aim to make this place a venue to hang out , read art magazines, art books, in short a venue for sharing time and experiences,” said Tüzünoğlu.
While most Istanbul art galleries renew themselves during the summer months, some mark their sign with a new style in the art scene. As the contemporary art scene expands and begins to host more international artists from the world art scene, Istanbul galleries expand and bring a new breath of fresh air to the city’s art scene.
Some change their venues, some open new branches and some even change their names and renew everything.
Among those changing galleries, Outlet, which was located in a venue in Boğazkesen, is now left as an empty space. The directors of the gallery, Azra Tüzünoğlu and Amira Bıyıkoğlu, first decided to expand the venue to have a larger storage. “However,” said Tüzünoğlu, “during our search for a new storage gallery we found a place that interested us a lot in the Sıraselviler neighborhood in the central Beyoğlu district.”
Those who know the 1970s night life of Istanbul would recognize the new Pilot art gallery venue. “This place was a very popular nightclub during the 70s called ES Kulüp. During those times, famous Turkish actors, artists and singers such as Ediz Hun and Zeki Müren visited the venue.”
It is known that during the 70s, Sıraselviler was the area for nightclubs. “There were few very popular and large clubs in Istanbul. One of them was ES Kulüp and another was Gar Gazinosu,” said the owners. “Last week, the owner of Gar Gazinosu came to the gallery and asked if we are opening the venue again,” said Bıyıkoğlu. The venue was closed for 30 years. “That’s why the construction period took 16 months,” said Bıyıkoğlu.
But the owners had a dream when they first saw the venue. “It was a huge mess, but we imagined that this place could be a really beautiful art gallery,” she added.
They decided to buy the venue and create a new art space for Istanbul. “However, we also wanted to change the title of the gallery, because we realized this was not a suitable project for Outlet.”
They decided that the venue should be a new gallery with a new name and choose the title “Pilot.”
“Pilot can be both read in Turkish and English and it means the same thing in both languages,” said Amira Akbıyıkoğlu.
Currently the gallery has a large showroom, storage for all the works. “We also want to make a huge library,” said Tüzünoğlu.
“It is important for us to create this library; we aim to bring 8,000 books via an e-book system. The Pilot gallery will be ready Sept. 16. The opening exhibition will be Halil Altındere’s solo exhibition. But we also aim to make this place a venue to hang out , read art magazines, art books, in short a venue for sharing time and experiences,” said Tüzünoğlu. k HDN