Gridlines and memory in Istanbul’s art scene
Welcome to Al-Monitor Istanbul.
From bronze grids to bartered memories, this week’s Istanbul wanderings trace the lines between structure and displacement. In a city where emigres bring their culture into nightclubs and restaurants, statues whisper mythology and even the borscht has a backstory, reinvention is the house specialty.
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Nazlan
1. Leading the week: Gridlines of memory
Rahmi Aksungur’s “Kiss” is part of his “Retrospective,” on loan from Istanbul Modern. (photo courtesy of Istanbul Modern)
“Public space is where sculpture encounters society,” says Izmir-born sculptor Rahmi Aksungur, whose major works are currently on view in “Retrospektif” at Is Sanat Kibele Gallery. “It’s where the relationship between human, sculpture, environment and scale can be seen — and dialogue can begin.”
Aksungur, who trained at the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts and was later dean and rector of the prestigious Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, has shaped a significant body of work and generations of students. One of the quiet forces of Turkish contemporary art, he is recognized as a pioneer in introducing the “grid structure” into Turkish art since the late 1970s.
The “grid,” whose lineage traces back to Egyptian and Greek systems of proportion and was later studied and employed by artists such as Rodchenko and Mondrian, reappears in Aksungur’s work as both structure and method. In his bronzes, it is impressed on the surface; in wood, it is constructed incrementally — each unit contributing to an integrated whole.
Rahmi Aksungur at work. (photo from artist’s webpage)
“Retrospektif,” curated by Firat Arapoglu, presents over 70 works that span Aksungur’s career. Some are on loan from institutions and collectors, and others are drawn from the artist’s archive of sketchbooks and models. His formal vocabulary draws from Seljuk architecture, mythology and ecological themes, such as extinction, notably in “Longing,” his tribute to the swordfish disappearing from the Sea of Marmara. The show also includes his iconic works, like the crimson-colored “Kiss” and the cerulean “Pegasus.”
“Execution comes after imagination,” Aksungur notes. “The heavy lifting is done long before the bronze is ever cast.”
Address: Buyukdere Cad, Levent, Meltem Sk. No: 4, 34330 Besiktas
Dates: Through July 14
2. Word on the street: Ayaspasa Russian Restaurant
Piroschkis at Ayaspasa. (Ayaspasa Instagram)
On the meandering Gumussuyu, Ayaspasa Rus Lokantasi has served borscht and nostalgia since 1943. Founded by white Russian emigre Boris Kreschsanovsky and his glamorous Hungarian wife, Madam Judith (“the countess,” to regulars), the restaurant quickly became a beloved hideaway for Istanbul’s exiles and bohemians. Bulent Ecevit, one of Turkey’s most-loved prime ministers and a great romantic, proposed to Rahsan — his companion in life, arts and politics — there.
Today, it’s still family-run, with Boris and Judith’s legacy preserved by Cemal Ok and his son Serkan. You’ll find classics like piroschki (the Russian pastry), chicken Kievski and — with three days’ notice — beer-braised pork knuckle. Yes, the borscht is still on the menu. On Fridays, the red velvet curtains are part of Russian Nostalgia Nights, complete with live music and retro favorites.
Address: Gumussuyu Mahallesi, Inonu Cd. Ankara Palas Apt. D:59/A, 34437 Beyoglu
3. Istanbul diary
Mother, sweetest: Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at the Bosphorus gets pastry virtuoso Nicolas Lambert for Mother’s Day in Turkey.
- Nicolas Lambert, the award-winning pastry chef behind Four Seasons Dubai, lands in Istanbul for a three-day “Ode to Bosphorus” extravaganza between May 8 and 11, featuring a Mother’s Day brunch, tea hour and dessert workshop. More info here.
- In Barin Han’s freshly polished halls, Eda Soylu and Hatice Utkan stitch poetry, sculpture and philosophy into an art journey that feels like Ishmael and Picasso got stuck in a whale’s belly. Until June 14.
- YUNT Gallery, an independent art platform that’s off the beaten track, gets wild as Guido Casaretto’s “Of Strays, Rhinos, and Misunderstandings” kicks off with a live sculpture performance. The Istanbul-born artist will cast two horse sculptures live, blending myth, memory and Mediterranean trade. Until August 15.
4. Book of the week: “The Black Russian”
From the fields of Mississippi to the cabarets of Moscow and the jazz clubs of Constantinople/Istanbul, Frederick Bruce Thomas’ life reads like a 20th-century fever dream. Born to former slaves who became land-owners, Thomas became Russia’s richest Black impresario — until the October Revolution sent him fleeing to Istanbul, where he reinvented himself once more. In “The Black Russian,” Vladimir Alexandrov traces his astonishing story with style and precision, employing a moving description of the dire conditions that took him from Odessa to Istanbul and of his first glimpse of Anadolu Kavagi (more on that in the “By the numbers” section).
As the Ottoman Empire unraveled, Thomas opened Maxim — earning him the nickname “Sultan of Jazz” — followed by the Muscovite on Bebek’s seafront and then Villa Tom in Tarabya. He made a fortune, and then, just as swiftly, he lost it. You’ll turn the last page hoping someone’s already writing the screenplay.
5. Istanbul gaze
At Captain Elias hotel in Kos, 2015, by Andres Mourenza.
In this stark image taken on the Greek island of Kos, the crumbling Captain Elias hotel — briefly home to hundreds of asylum-seekers from Asia and Africa — is shown at the height of Europe's “refugee crisis.” Spanish journalist and author Andres Mourenza, who has covered the region for nearly two decades, includes this moment in his book “Sinirlar” (Borders), a chronicle of forced journeys and forgotten lives. Based in Istanbul, Mourenza is known for his field reporting across the Balkans, the Middle East and the Caucasus, where he documents present and past displacements.
6. By the numbers
- Anadolu Kavagi, once a sleepy fishing village, now packs 1,262 residents into 5.2 square kilometers (2 square miles) — and squeezes in about 20 seafood joints along its breezy harbor, according to the local municipality’s website.
- The Bosporus, snaking 31 kilometers (19 miles) from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, dives to 110 meters (361 feet) near Bebek and narrows to just 700 meters (0.43 miles). Over 50,000 ships pass through each year, making it one of the world’s most congested maritime corridors, according to official stats.