Falling

Born in 1962, Gül Ilgaz graduated from the Mimar Sinan University Department of Painting in 1988. She attended various programs in art and design at Bard College and Savannah College in the U.S.A., and took part in the guest artist program in informal architecture at Banff Center, Canada, in 2004. Ilgaz represented Turkey in the 50th Venice Biennial (2003), and produces photographs, videos, and installations. In her work she examines the contradictions between East and West, or the traditional and modern. At the same time, she puts the dilemmas of her own life under the microscope. She explores various aspects of a woman’s identity from a personal standpoint. In a pure, poetic fashion she highlights spiritual states which are shared by everyone. Shaped through her own experiences and body, the works arouse the innermost, indefinable emotions of the spectator, bringing to the surface the sadness and melancholy which he/she suppresses in everyday life. In 'Falling', Gül Ilgaz reminds us that the cultural and political divide believed to exist between East and West cannot be restricted to one strait. The work displays the artist’s power, when confronted by boundaries and prejudices, to stand at equal distance within this created rupture. In this work we see a body showing the courage to let herself into the dark waters of the Bosphorus. The work reflects the relationship ridden with contradictions that the body establishes with İstanbul. Also conveyed are the ups and down the individual experiences within the rhythm of life itself and of İstanbul; the need for alleviation under the weight of the loads we bear; and an effort to find balance