the good old tricks, for one last time.
he’s here and he’s gone.
Memorial Event for Hüseyin Bahri Alptekin [1957 - 2007]
March 15, 2008, from 18:00 on
Ortaköy, Istanbul
On Saturday, March 15th, a memorial will be held for Hüseyin Bahri Alptekin who passed away in his studio on the last day of 2007.
The evening will include talks, video and photo screenings, and the performance of original musical scores composed in his memory.
Alptekin was an artist, writer, educator and curator. In 1990, Alptekin began to make art, fusing associative images and objects in installations. Befitting a philosopher turned artist, Alptekin’s oeuvre is unified by an ambitious set of themes. In grandly staged installations, neon signs and photographic series, Alptekin freely borrowed images and phrases without declaring them his own. The core of his artistic practice was his consideration of the universe from the viewpoint of an anonymous and plural author working in an unmediated, intercultural and intertextual society. Alptekin never resorted to representation, or false empathy, by peeking into peoples’ lives. Never permitting himself moral superiority, he strove to attain a flawless ethics in his art.
Alptekin represented Turkey in the Arsenale at the 52nd Venice Biennale, presenting Don’t Complain (2007). He took part in numerous international exhibitions including the Istanbul Biennial in 1995 and 2005, the Bienal de São Paulo in 1998, the 2002 Cetinje Biennale in Montenegro, the Tirana Biennial in 2003 and 2005 and Manifesta 5 in 2004. Alptekin won a UNESCO prize for his work in the Cetinje Biennale, and the M. Mulliqi Prize at the 3rd International Exhibition at Kosovo Art Gallery, Prishtina, in 2005. As a curator, he organized exhibitions and events in Istanbul, Tirana, Havana and Helsinki.
Those who wish to join us in memory of Hüseyin Bahri Alptekin, please contact: huseyinsfriends2@gmail.com
