Gültekin Çizgen Exhibition of Illustrations
Hosted by Gungor Mimaroglu
Presented by the Moon and Stars Project

Tuesday, May 1 - Monday, May 14, 2007

Reception: Tuesday, May 1, 2007 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Gallery hours: 11:00 am - 7:00 pm daily

The Gallery at The Marmara-Manhattan
301 East 94th Street
(at Second Avenue)
New York, NY 10128

Free Admission

For additional information please call (212) 229-1207 or visit www.marmara-manhattan.com.

The Moon and Stars project is proud to present the Gültekin Çizgen Exhibition of Illustrations, which will showcase selected works of Gültekin Çizgen, a pioneering Turkish photographer. Çizgen has been a prominent figure in Turkish photography for decades and his books on the art and study of photography have enlightened the followers of this art form for years. Çizgen has kept up to date with the advance of technology and digital art forms in the past 10 years, practicing new forms and techniques as a platform “to transform fantasy into a work of art,” in his own words. Çizgen’s photographs and illustrations always manage to make powerful statements by capturing the minor subtleties of life and tying the momentary to the larger framework of time. Distinguished critic Haşim Nur Gürel describes Çizgen’s illustrations in this exhibition as “collages with combined elements like photographs, partial reproductions of scenes from classical miniatures, marbled paper, calligraphy, ceramics, and textiles”. This combination of classical Ottoman art forms with modern tools presents Çizgen’s aim to provide a cultural exchange through his art; his extensive use of Ottoman imagery portrays his view that “art must be based on something which is authentic, which is indigenous.” In the end, this exhibition is a striking study in this project to connect to a native Turkish core while staying relevant in the modern global sphere and visitors will be introduced to the works of a leading Turkish artist whose oeuvre includes art from many different media and time periods.

Our special thanks to Gungor Mimaroglu; Mine Ozpinar, Zishan Ugurlu, and Gulce Agirkaya, The Gallery at The Marmara-Manhattan