Adel Abidin
Ping Pong
curated by Basak Senova
15 September–15 October 2011
Opening:
14 September 2011, Wednesday 6:30 pm
Gallery Zilberman
İstiklal Cad. Mısır Apt.
No: 163 Kat: 3 Daire: 10
Beyoğlu, İstanbul
T +90 212 251 1214 – 251 1274
info@galerizilberman.com
Gallery Zilberman presents the exhibition titled Ping-Pong by Iraqi-Finnish artist Adel Abidin, whose work revolves around the reflections of the political and social issues in a distinctive visual language. The exhibition is curated by Basak Senova.
The exhibition features an installation of a video work by the same title that fills the exhibition space of Gallery Zilberman in Istanbul. The minimal spatial design of the space gives the screen a floating effect, yet transforms the gallery into a field shared by the viewers and the work.
Ping Pong is based on a fragment from a match between two dominating, strapping players who play fast, aggressive and offensive table-tennis. It seems to be an exciting game, even for the referee. However, a young beautiful woman takes the role of the net. Every hit appears as a bruise on her skin; yet, she bears the physical pain and suffers stoically.
By conceptualising the role and power of the performers, Ping Pong is a work, which retains symbolism in every detail. Nevertheless, this symbolism operates on an arbitrary level. Abidin has stated that as an artist the leaves the interpretation of his work to the viewer. Hence, Ping Pong could be read from various angles and viewpoints including gender-politics, geo-politics or even bio-politics. The work oscillates between opposite poles and challenges the viewers by including them in this tidal situation. While observing this beautifully filmed brutality, the viewer becomes both the witness and the accomplice of this action.
The exhibition Ping Pong is accompanied by a bilingual (English and Turkish) book, edited by Basak Senova, including text by Mikko Oranen, Marion Guilmot, and Lauri Nykopp, and an interview/text with Adel Abidin by Basak Senova.
Adel Abidin was born in Baghdad in 1973. He works with installations, video, and photography. After graduating from the Academy of fine Arts in Baghdad in 2000 with a degree in Painting, he moved to Finland and received an MFA from the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki, where he is based at the present. His work has been recognised at numerous international exhibitions, including the Finnish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, (2007), and Kiasma (Museum of Contemporary Art), Helsinki, (2010). His work was commissioned for the inaugural exhibition “Told/Untold/Retold” at Mathaf Museum, Doha, (2010) and in 2011, he exhibited his work at the Sharjah Biennale, the Iraqi Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, and held a major show at the Anne De Villepoix Gallery in Paris. www.adelabidin.com
