The Story of Sener Özmen / Die Geschicte von Sener Özmen
Diyarbakir-based Kurdish artist and writer Sener Özmens work is shaped within the geopolitical reality of South Anatolia of Turkey, where he lives and works - not only as an open critique of state violence and militarist regime, but also as loose diary of resistance and imagination. His video, literary (poetry, fiction, novel) and photography works deal with the problems of taking critical positions against the centralization of power at the periphery. He is actively involved in political discussions and engaged with artistic collaborations, as well as being interested in the transition of Kurdish from a restricted language in Turkey into literature and art through writings and translations.
His collaborative video work with Erkan Özgen, "The Road to Tate" (2003) and "The Meeting or Bonjour Monsieur Courbet"" (2004) in collaboration with Cengiz Tekin, created international recognition; as they used a specific form of video language that reflects notions of artistic research and production in a specific region of Turkey - developed by a generation of conceptualist Kurdish (video) artists.
Adnan Yildiz’s research visit to Diyarbakir, and regular discussions between Yildiz and Sener Özmen have directed the question of how some of his previous works that have been shown before in various contexts can be revised or reconstructed into a solo presentation regarding the context of Stuttgart and architectural reality of Künstlerhaus Stuttgart.
Özmen sometimes appears in his own work like an anti-hero, and mostly plays with constructions of different genres and styles, and this often results in him turning them into his own statements. The photography series from 2003, entitled "Supermuslim" is reprinted as wallpaper being attached to the space as a regeneration of an already existing work. As a Muslim ‘Superman’, Özmen prays as if he is following the instructions from a "how to pray" book that teaches prayer for Muslim children. From a post-9/11 perspective, critical transitions of political identities and the post-politicization of religious conflicts are reflected on one fictional identity: who is a "Super hero" and "Muslim" simultaneously.
The exhibition process has provided another opportunity of bringing another piece back to a contemporary context; an artist book from Sener Özmen, "The Story of Tracey Emin" (2000). This is reissued as a publication by Stuttgart-based publishing house Edition Taube. The book is based on a short story about a character called “Abdülbaki Readymade”, who wants to kidnap Tracey Emin and is comprised of illustrations, notes, and images forming a fictive diary. Sener's position emerging from the periphery enables him to develop a humorous language about the centralization of contemporary art and its function as fame industry.
At the centre of the second floor of Künstlerhaus Stuttgart, the audience is confronted with a video work in a black box construction, ‘Our Village’ (2004) depics two young girls playbackinga Kurdish song. The song portrays a village, near to Bingöl Mountain in South Anatolia. Like a music video with subtitled lyrics, the video invites us to participate with a joyful start. As the video progresses the emotions move through seasons at Bingöl Mountain: spring, summer, fall and winter - leaving a hit of social reality on our face.
Surrounding this construction, there are recent photography works from Özmen, and each image is based on different associations and references: “Catharsis” reinterprets Heraclitus`s famous saying, "You cannot step twice into the same stream" as a mockery of GAP, the most important and multi billion dollar development project in Turkey.“The Flag” ironically shows a flag ceremony as something that causes crick, “Seyhmus and Ilhan” creates a curiosity about the level of intimacy between two men. In each of them, Özmen manages to leave the audience with a frame that allows the narrations to exist as open critique.
"The Story of Sener Özmen / Die Geschicte von Sener Özmen" presents a collaborative work from Sener Özmen and Cengiz Tekin; series of videos titled as “The Original Message” in four parts: Hope; View; Bravo; and One Day a "T" and a "K” (2006-09). Dedicated to the Situationist tradition, and referring to the past, present and future these four videos with different effects and technical formats operate as autobiographical fragments of experimental narrative.
"The Story of Sener Özmen" is the first solo exhibition after twenty-one years of artistic life and political resistance in terms of long term research, production, and display. It brings together recent works with earlier ones aiming to link his conceptual attitude and ironic language to the discussion of representation of politics today.
KÜNSTLERISCHE DIALOGE I: Şener Özmen und Nevin Aladağ
Ausstellung 21. April 2011 - 29. Mai 2011
Şener Özmen: Die Geschichte von Şener Özmen
Nevin Aladağ: Alles auf Anfang
