The art nouveau building in which the Zilberman Gallery, established in Istanbul in 2008, resides, houses the tenth installation of its Young Fresh Different (YFD) series. Since 2009 the gallery has championed the up and coming artists of Turkey by exhibiting their pieces as a part of this body of work. This year YFD returns for Young Fresh Different 10: One Must Continue, taking place from July 13, 2019 to August 17, 2019. Derived from a quote by Irish writer, theatre director and translator, Samuel Beckett, featured in artist Zeynep Kayan’s text displayed in this exhibition, the phrase ‘one must continue’ is emblematic of a sense of hope and determination. It speaks to the perseverance of artistic ambition, need for continuous creation and the demand for art institutions to maintain their support for and encouragement of projects such as YFD.

Curated by artist Burçak Bingöl, previously the artistic director of the gallery from 20102016, the exhibition sees the works of twelve Turkish artists displayed throughout the gallery. Selected by an independent jury who sifted through works of art made by artists responding to the open call for applications, the viewer can expect to see works by Eda Aslan, Özgür Atlagan, Alpin Arda Bağcık, Zeynep Beler, Sevinç Çalhanoğlu, Nazlı Erdemirel, Gizem Karakaş, Zeynep Kayan, Gülşah Mursaloğlu, Ali Şentürk, Ezgi Tok and Hasan Özgür placed throughout the walls and floor of the gallery space. This exhibition aims to expose the works of these burgeoning artists to a wider audience, providing them with a platform to convey their ideas and concepts through the medium of art. Bingöl centres the focus on the personal visual languages developed by each artist throughout their career, transforming the exhibition space into a conversation between the artist and the gallery. Adding to the notion of individuality explored in the exhibition, Bingöl further encourages the artists to write about their experiences of being a contemporary artist, in particular highlighting the root of concerns faced by modern creators and the rationale behind their artworks. In including artists who have participated in previous exhibitions at the Zilberman Gallery, Bingöl transforms this seemingly typical show into a quasi-retrospective that tracks the careers of the selected artists over the last decade.

Moving around the room the viewer experiences a plethora of diverse artworks. The exhibition comprises of a collection of photography, film, sculpture, installation, painting, books and mixed-media pieces. As the viewer enters the main gallery space they are confronted by a large photomontage of a series of interlinked hands and a few portrait scenes. Just below it two televisions, each illuminated with a pair of hands holding burning matches, lie on the floor. On the left the wall adjacent to this piece is painted in a dark shade of grey, allowing the five white, slightly dishevelled, scrolls that are affixed to its surface to stand out. One piece sees suspended rods encased in glass boxes suggesting a distance between the viewer and the artwork and thus highlights the pristine nature of the gallery space within  which they are contained. Elsewhere in the room, Kayan’s book rests on a shelf, waiting to be read by the viewer.

The Zilberman Gallery has two main locations, one in Istanbul and one in Berlin which was recently launched in 2016, as well as another project space in the former. Every year each location stages around four exhibitions, resulting in approximately twelve curated exhibitions annually. It represents twenty artists, ranging from young, emerging artists to those who have already established themselves. By operating in two very different cities, the gallery is able to create cross-cultural links and develop an open dialogue that focusses primarily on social and cultural issues. As with all exhibitions displayed at the Zilberman Gallery, YFD 10: One Must Continue, on show from this July until August 17, 2019, comes with a catalogue which contains an in-depth documentation of the artworks and artists.

Photo Credit :Kayhan Kaygusuz  

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