21/04/2025
Lifestyle
A new gallery has lit up the artistic map of Istanbul and, with its debut curatorial experiment, declared its bold step into the multi-layered cultural environment of the metropolis. Collect Gallery opened its doors in 2022 and its two spaces in Tophane and Karaköy are now must-sees for connoisseurs and collectors of contemporary art.
Achieving visibility, attractiveness and provocation on the artistic life of a city like Istanbul, with an art scene of enormous scale and experience, is no easy task. It requires a team with sufficient expertise, audacity and flair. Established in 2022, Collect Gallery has this team. The gallery's vision is to present projects that bring together contemporary artists, works and ideas. “In the two gallery spaces – in Tophane and Karaköy, we aim to build content on an international scale and develop diverse collaborations. The universal, aesthetic and conceptual integrity of the artists we work with is important to us, and our goal is to help their projects reach as many connoisseurs and collectors as possible."
It is no coincidence that Collect Gallery Tophane opens its doors with Check-In – a curatorial experiment by Markus Graf. Throughout the duration of the project, a spatial transition of the exhibited works takes place - from their solo presentation in the main space of the gallery to their withdrawal in the Check-Out area, with moments of intersections between the trajectories. Thus visualizing the flow of artists and works of art in which past, present and future intermingle. The project not only introduces Collect Gallery to the local art scene for the first time with the artists Georgi Georgiev/Jorrras, Sevda Semer, Kalina Dimitrova and Martian Tabakov, but also asserts itself as part of the urban character of Istanbul and the dynamics of its cultural life.
The second space of the gallery opens its doors in one of the most significant buildings for the cultural life of Istanbul - Juma in Karaköy, with two projects - Steppıng Stones and Beetopia II, which are part of the program of the 17th Biennial of Contemporary Art. English artist Richard Bartle's Steppıng Stones is a system of art provocations built on the artist's philological, historical and cultural research during his encounters with the fascinating and astonishing urban environment of Istanbul over 18 years. Beetopia II by artist Gönül Nuhoolu explores through installation, sculpture, photography and video art the changing realities of nature, social attitudes towards the natural world and oppressive power structures.
Collect Gallery became part of Contemporary Istanbul 2022 with a highly successful experimental stand curated by Markus Graf (one of the most active and respected curators in Istanbul). Each work of art had 60 minutes to attract the attention of streams of art lovers, that's how long its stage performance lasted on the front wall of the booth under the illuminated Showtime sign. The stand was chosen as one of the six main points of the exhibition and attracted the interest of business, art and the political elite. The mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu and his wife, the owner of CI - Ali Gureli, the popular Turkish actress Serenay Sarkaya, representatives of business families in Turkey were among the visitors.
In December, Collect Gallery will show Zafer Akşit's Game On exhibition, and in 2023, among the featured artists will be Cins, one of the most famous graffiti artists in Turkey, making the step from pop art to surrealism, and Georgi Ruzhev, whose retrospective exhibition in spring will be accompanied by a new project in the former Zulfaris Synagogue.
Collect Gallery Tophane Hacımimi, Karabaş Cd. No:2/3, 34425 Beyoğlu / Istanbul
Collect Gallery Juma Kemankeş Karamustafa Paşa, Mumhane Cd. No:50 Beyoğlu / Istanbul
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