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    MEHMET ALI UYSAL

    MEHMET ALI UYSAL

    Can we represent time? Can we stop it, freeze it in an instant? Do we perceive space correctly? These unsolvable, metaphysical questions often cross our minds when facing a work of art. Uysal’s artistic practice gives perceptible existence to those thoughts. What role exactly does the artist play, in the process of creating an artwork? Such as Don Quixote facing the windmills, he defies the laws of nature through his sculptures, videos and installations. He materializes notions that are theoretically impossible to represent. He twists, shapes, distorts reality, bringing it beyond its boundaries. He offers concrete solutions to abstract problems.

    The artist is renowned for his ability to subvert time and space : “Space, as we perceive it, is an illusion, he says. Our eyes only allow us to reconstitute reality in two dimensions, and it is through movement that we grasp the third one. Space is not really something we can see. We feel it”.

    Born in Mersin (Turkey) in 1976, Mehmet Ali Uysual lives and works between Paris and Ankara. He studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts of Ankara where he obtained his PhD in 2009 (Department of Sculpture) and took part in an Exchange Program in 2008 at the École Nationale Superieure d’Art de Bourges. He is considered a major figure of Turkish contemporary scene.

    Exhibition :
    It’s funny because it’s true
    Concrete solutions (To your most abstract problems)
    Home is where the (he)art is
    Summer Group Show
    Ne m’abandonne pas
    Privé : Here, there, somewhere

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      Born in 1976, lives and works in Ankara, Turkey, where he teaches at the Middle Eastern Technical University

      2009
      Hacettepe University, PhD, Department of Sculpture, Faculty of Fine Arts, Ankara, Turkey
      2008
      Exchange Programm, Ecole Nationale Superieure d’Art de Bourges, France

      COLLECTIONS

      Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019, Department of Culture and Tourism – Abou Dabi, UAE
      City of Umea Public Collection (2014 Culture Capital of Europe), Sweden
      Audi Collection (Audi Bank Lebanon) Beirut, Lebanon
      Golden Harvest Group Art Collection, India
      Samdani Art Foundation, Bangladesh
      Vehbi Koç Foundation Collection, Turkey
      Ozyegin University Collection, Turkey
      Le Vent Des Forets Festival Public Collection, Meuse, France
      Chaudfontaine Parks Public Collection, Liege, Belgium
      Tebdilimekan, Tepe Contemporary Art Space, Istanbul, Turkey
      Taviloglu Collection, Istanbul, Turkey
      Jaidah Brothers Art Collection, Doha, Qatar
      Allianz Collection, Istanbul, Turkey
      Fusun-Faruk Eczacibasi Collection, Istanbul, Turkey
      Capital Partners Art Collection, Istanbul, Turkey
      Kemer Country Club Collection, Istanbul, Turkey

      SOLO EXHIBITIONS

      2022
      Su, Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche, Paris, France

      2020
      Ne m’abandonne pas, Galerie Paris-Beijing, Paris, France

      2019
      Don’t Abandon Me, Pi Artworks, Istanbul, Turkey

      2016
      Concrete Solutions (To Your Most Abstract Problems) curated by Yann Perreau, Galerie Paris-Beijing, Paris, France
      Hi!, Sapar Contemporary, New-York, USA

      2015
      Specific Gravity, M 1886, Ankara, Turkey
      BLOCK, Pi Artworks, London, United Kingdom

      2014
      The Past, Pearl Lam Galleries, Shanghai, China

      2013
      Pinch me awake, Stiftung Starke, Berlin, Germany
      Painting, Pi Artworks, Istanbul, Turkey
      Art Basel Hong Kong, Pi Artworks, Hong Kong

      2012
      Peel, Nesrin Esirtgen Collection, Istanbul, Turkey

      2011
      Malist, Q Contemporary, Beirut, Lebanon
      Mist, Etemad Gallery, Dubai, UAE

      2010
      Tebdilibeden, Pi Artworks, Istanbul, Turkey
      Suspended, Pi Artworks, Istanbul, Turkey

      2008
      Ex-libris, Galerie Eigenheim, Weimar, Germany

      2007
      Aesthetics Bridging Cultures, XVII International Congress of Aesthetics, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey

      GROUP EXHIBITIONS

      2019
      A Pillar of Smoke, A Look at Turkey’s Contemporary Scene, Galerie Paris-Beijing, Paris, France

      2018
      Summer group show, Galerie Paris-Beijing, Paris, France
      Home is Where the He(art) is, Gallery Paris-Beijing, Paris, France

      2014
      15th METU Art Festival, Ankara, Turkey

      2013
      Contemporary Istanbul’13, Pi Artworks, Istanbul, Turkey
      ArtInternational Istanbul, Pi Artworks, Istanbul, Turkey

      2012
      Eyeballing, Ankara Contemporary Arts Center, Ankara, Turkey
      Contemporary Istanbul’12, Pi Artworks, Istanbul, Turkey
      M 1886 Art Projects, Ankara, Turkey
      Pi @ Q, Q Contemporary, Beirut, Lebanon

      2011
      Contemporary Istanbul’11, Pi Artworks, Istanbul, Turkey
      Trade Routes, Pi Artworks, Istanbul, Turkey
      If the Nature is Heaven the City is Hell, Cer Modern, Ankara, Turkey
      Figure Out, Art Sawa, Dubai, UAE Art Dubai, Pi Artworks, Dubai, UAE

      2010
      Contemporary Istanbul’10, Pi Artworks, Istanbul, Turkey
      Floating Volumes, 5533, Istanbul, Turkey
      Floating Volumes, Frise, Hamburg, Germany
      White Out, Kunsthaus Erfurt, Erfurt, Germany
      Festival Cinq Saisons, Chaudfontaine, Belgium Mardin Biennial, Mardin, Turkey
      Faso Fiso, Cer Modern, Ankara, Turkey
      Cer Modern Opening Exhibition, Ankara, Turkey Out of Context, Pi Artworks, Istanbul, Turkey

      2009
      St-art, 14th European Contemporary Art Fair, Strasbourg, France
      Temporary Harassment, Istanbul 2010 Portable Art Project, Istanbul, Turkey
      Good, Bad, Ugly, Contemporary Art Center, Ankara, Turkey
      In search of lost reality: nevgeneration, Galery Nev, Ankara, Turkey

      2008
      Cruise Experiences, Contemporary Art Center, Ankara, Turkey
      Truths and Mirages, video exhibition, Sofia, Bulgaria
      Jeune Creation, Grand Hall de La Villette, Paris, France
      Sometime, Somewhere, Daire Sanat, Istanbul, Turkey
      Le Vent Des Forets, the Contemporary Art Residency, Meuse, France
      Art Is My Playground, Kucuk Ciftlik Eglence Park, Istanbul, Turkey

      2007
      Gercekci ol, imkansizi talep et! / Be a Realist, Demand the Impossible! (Curated by Halil Altindere), Karsi Sanat Calısmalari, Istanbul, Turkey
      Galeri İçine Karışık Teknik (Mixed Media in a Gallery), Piramid Sanat, Istanbul, Turkey
      Recalls – Reminders, Galerist, Istanbul, Turkey

      2006
      Contemporary Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey
      So Far Away From Here, public space project, Haydarpasa Train Station, Istanbul, Turkey and Ankara Train Station, Ankara, Turkey
      16th TUYAP Art Fair, Istanbul, Turkey
      Golyazi Project, Artist Residency Project, Bursa, Turkey
      Contemporary Art Exhibition, Incheon, South Korea
      Hacettepe University Exhibition, Contemporary Art Center, Ankara, Turkey
      Anarchy, Gazi University Art Gallery, Ankara, Turkey
      Art and Money, Siemens Sanat, Istanbul, Turkey

      2005
      24th Contemporary Artists Exhibition, with Jury Special Award, Aksanat, Istanbul, Turkey
      Sculpture exhibition, Gallery Concept, Ankara, Turkey
      Familiarization with the Art and Culture of Europe Project, Multicultural Identity: Cultural Heri- tage, Art, Image, Contemporary Art Center, Ankara, Turkey

      2004
      Unreal Realities, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
      5th Hasanoglan Art Festival Exhibition, Contemporary Art Center, Ankara, Turkey

      1998
      Angora Art Exhibition, Angora Evleri, Ankara, Turkey
      Sculpture exhibition, METU Cultural and Convention Center Art Gallery, Ankara, Turkey

      Over the last few years, Galerie Paris-Beijing has been exploring the axis linking Europe to Asia, Paris to Beijing. On its way it knew precisely where to stop: Turkey, a country where the two continents meet. Since the beginning of the century, Istanbul has become a platform for a both innovating and dynamic art scene, of which Mehmet Ali Uysal is undoubtedly one of the most respected figures. Can we represent time? Can we stop it, freeze it in an instant? Do we perceive space correctly These unsolvable, metaphysical questions often cross our minds when facing a work of art. Uysal’s artistic practice gives perceptible existence to those thoughts. What role exactly does the artist play, in the process of creating an artwork? Such as Don Quixote facing the windmills, he defies the laws of nature through his sculptures, videos and installations. He materializes notions that are theoretically impossible to represent. He twists, shapes, distorts reality, bringing it beyond its boundaries. He offers concrete solutions to abstract problems.

      The artist is renowned for his ability to subvert time and space : “Space, as we perceive it, is an illusion, he says. Our eyes only allow us to reconstitute reality in two dimensions, and it is through movement that we grasp the third one. Space is not really something we can see. We feel it”.
      His large-scale installations are shaped from the specificity of each environment they are created for, hence deconstructing our preconceptions. Starting with an allegory, a crashed airplane, this exhibition takes us on another planet, defies our perception of the world, its weight, gravitation, matter, finally revealing itself for what it truly is. We are no longer lured by our senses, as if this well-known sixth one (kinesthesia as scientists call it) was added to the five canonical ones. This more suitable form of sensitivity that the artist creates allows us to feel everything around us.
      With the Peel series (2012) the gallery walls became the artwork. Here Uysal goes one step further: the gallery space becomes the author. The artist steps aside to let the walls, their materials, the specific setting of the space express themselves.

      This exhibition is also a tribute to the artist’s relationship with France, a country he knows well. It can be seen as a subtle and irreverent homage to Cartesianism. In 2008, Mehmet Ali Uysal was artist-in-residence at the Cité International des Arts. He exhibited a large-scale installation in Lorraine (Skin, Vent des forêts).

      Yann Perreau