Borusan Contemporary, which was
founded on September 2011, is a multi-platform program of exhibitions, events,
educational activities, new commissions and site specific installations. The Borusan Contemporary Art Collection consists of
digital-medium artworks that can be classified as video art, installation, new
media, neon-LED and photography.
New Media Artworks
The collection focuses towards New Media Arts.In addition to commissioned site-specific works, the character of the collection is rooted in experimental and digital artworks from various artists such as Brigitte Kowanz, François Morellet, Ola Kolehmainen, Jim Campbell, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Robert Mapplethorpe, Maurizo Nannucci, Doug Aitken, Peter Zimmermann, Gerwald Rockenschaub, Liam Gillick, U-Ram Choe, Daniel Rozin, Daniel Canogar, Marina Zurkow and Manfred Mohr.
Mesocosm(Times Square, New York) (2012/2012) by Marina ZurkowBorusan Contemporary
Mesocosm (Times Square, New York) was acquired in 2014. The Borusan Contemporary Art Collection owns multiple works by Zurkow including Elixir I (2008), Elixir IV (2008) and The Poster Children (2007).
Mesocosm (Times Square, New York) is an algorithmic work, representing the passage of time in a speculative, hybrid Times Square. One hour of world time elapses in each minute of screen time, so that one year lasts 146
hours. No cycle is identical to the last, as the appearance and behavior of 6 Marina Zurkow
Mesocosm (Times Square, New York) the human and non-human characters, as well as changes in the weather, are determined by a code using a simple probability equation: seasons unfold, days pass, moons rise and set, while animals, people, and weather come and go.
Presented as a triptych on three screens, Mesocosm (Times Square, New York) responds to the temporal and spatial organization of Hieronymus Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights. The world is divided into three stages:
Eden before The Fall, a crowded but pleasurable Present, and Hell. Zurkow’s composition treats place as part past, present and future. A hybrid
landscape is drawn, depicting images gathered from Google Street View, present-day architecture, and allusions to geographic terrain prior to the city’s development- such as rolling meadows flanked by mixed forest, and
a stream that runs where 42nd Street now lies. Populating the left screen are pre-European animals that thrived in Manhattan which, by all research and accounts, was an ecological “paradise.” The movements of these wild
animals flow toward the middle screen, where today’s domesticated animals preside, along with present-day weather patterns and people. The right screen contains an assortment of plush mascots plucked from the streets of Times Square: Elmos, Hello Kitties and M&M avatars, as well as rats, roaches and pigeons–our opportunistic companions–assembled as a new
urban environment.
Freefall (2011/2011) by James ClarBorusan Contemporary
James Clar's Free Fall recalls animation techniques. Freefall depicts an illuminated figure of a person in the motion of falling by using light filters that cast light and color onto the wall. Borrowing a visual technique used in animation and comic books, each piece uses the lines of light to emphasize the directional motion of the person.
Home Movies (2014/2014) by Jim CampbellBorusan Contemporary
Continually (2007/2007) by Brigitte KowanzBorusan Contemporary
It's My Island I,II,III Bu Benim Adam I,II,III (2007/2007) by Antti LaitinenBorusan Contemporary
In It’s My Island, Laitinen builds his own island in the Baltic Sea by dragging two hundred sand bags into the water over a period of three months using nothing but a spade, sand and sacks. The piece explores notions of nationality –building his own independent micro-nation inhabited by a single citizen– and questions fundamental issues of citizenship and identity.
Ouroboros (2012/2012) by U Ram ChoeBorusan Contemporary
Turkish Contemporary Art
While the collection further encompasses Turkish Contemporary Art through generations with the examples of Ayşe Erkmen, Bülent Evren, Ali Kazma, Cevdet Erek, Basak Kaptan and Esra Ersen, it is also supportive of the new generations through its inclusion of artists such as Burak Arıkan, Evrim Kavcar, Serkan Taycan, Lale Delibaş and Erdal İnci.
Absence (2011/2011) by Ali KazmaBorusan Contemporary
Absence was acquired by the Borusan Contemporary Art Collection in 2013.
The Borusan Contemporary Art Collection also holds Kazma’s Written
(2011).
Ali Kazma’s Absence is shot in an abandoned NATO base in Holland,
with no trace of the human figure but provocative and at times haunting
suggestions of its previous presence.
Istiklal Avenue (2013/2013) by Erdal İnciBorusan Contemporary
Rough Sea Sert Deniz (2007/2007) by Nuri Bilge CeylanBorusan Contemporary
"Resim 463, Painting 463" (2007) by "Abdurrahman Öztoprak"Borusan Contemporary
Photography
Borusan Contemporary Art Collection includes around 150 photography artworks from various contemporary artists.
Composition with Three Trees, 2 (2010/2010) by Ola KolehmainenBorusan Contemporary
Borusan Contemporary Art Collection further manifests itself through the artworks of Ola Kolehmainen. The organic and geometric forms become prominent in Kolehmainen’s big scale photograph realized through digital
techniques. He says, "I use architecture as a starting point and source of inspiration, not as the ultimate final result. In fact, my work is an examination of space, light and color, which reflect and question our way of looking at things".
Revere Sugar Factory 2 (2005/2005) by Miru KimBorusan Contemporary
Rice Terraces #3a & #3b (2012/2012) by Edward BurtynskyBorusan Contemporary
Sculpture and Mixed Media Techniques
Approximately 200 sculpture and mixed media artworks are included in our collection.
Ballroom Chandelier Installation Balo Salonu Avize Yerlestirmesi (2007/2007) by Keith SonnierBorusan Contemporary
A wall painting by Jerry Zeniuk commissioned by Borusan and the neon sculpture by Keith Sonnier
are situated in this main meeting room. In this space, offering one of the most impressive Bosphorus views, Zeniuk carefully selected the colors that are not visible in the landscape, i.e. yellow, orange and turquoise, to build an installation that surrounds and encloses the entire room. The thick and rhythmic brush strokes create an atmosphere that attracts the viewer into the artwork.
SV1 (2011/2011) by Björn SchülkeBorusan Contemporary
Shülke’s art approach is based on abstract art and sculpture that produces cognitive structures absurd machines.
This artwork reflects the movement and transformation by capturing movements around thanks to motion sensors. That makes the propellers spinning. This work evokes the space shuttle and rocket, Schülke interprets the concept as change and movement towards to center.
Crossroad (2012/2012) by Daniel CanogarBorusan Contemporary
Situated at the entrance of Borusan Contemporary, Daniel Canogar’s site-specific work Crossroads welcomes guests to the building.
Patch Ball No. 3 (2009/2009) by Beat ZodererBorusan Contemporary
The Borusan Contemporary Art Collection has the distinction of being the first corporate collection in Turkey to feature site-specific installations.
The Borusan Contemporary museum is not only striking for its intriguing collection of Turkish and international contemporary art, but also for its location at Perili Köşk, which functions as Borusan Holding’s head office during the week, transforming itself into a museum only on the weekends and public holidays. In addition to offering a home to the collection itself, it also serves as a space for thematic exhibitions, cultural events of various sorts and a wide range of educational initiatives, including workshops for children.
