Elmas Deniz and Manaf Halbouni

Zilberman Gallery is proud to announce the representations of Elmas Deniz and Manaf Halbouni. 

Elmas Deniz (1981, Bergama, Turkey)is a concept-driven visual artist living and working in Istanbul, Turkey. 

Her works investigate the intersections and points of entanglement between economics and nature. The capitalism-led deterioration of nature, and our perception of it, as well as the related consumerist culture, are the central concepts in Deniz’s practice. She questions how the economic system continuously reshapes our perception through subtle but consistent manipulations. She sheds light on the illusional distribution of value. Deniz further focuses on the human-nature relationship, the idea of nature throughout history, and ecological concerns. Her works critically expose the faults of the system and occasionally propose alternative possibilities. Form-content interplay, the attempts to adapt the form to the concept, defines her choices. She hence consults a wide range of media, including installation, sculpture, video, drawing, and writings.

Her solo exhibitions include: Integration with Nature (Açıkekran New Media Art Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey, 2019—upcoming), A Year Without a Summer (PİLOT, Istanbul, Turkey, 2018), Seeing the Black Panther (PİLOT, Istanbul, Turkey, 2014), Universal Minimum Wage Commission (SVILOVA, Gothenburg, Sweden, 2014) and Elmas (Maçka Art Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey, 2012). Her selected group exhibitions include: Re/Evolution (Colombo Old Terminus Station, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2017), VIDEO FOREVER (Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, Paris, France, 2016), TILL IT’S GONE (Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, Istanbul, Turkey, 2016), 14th Istanbul Biennial, SALTWATER: A Theory of Thought Forms (Istanbul, Turkey, 2015), WE ARE HERE BeCAUSE YOU WERE/ARE (t)HERE (studio das weisse haus, Vienna, Austria, 2014), Unrest of Form (SECESSION/Museumsquartier, Vienna, Austria, 2013). 

Manaf Halbouni (1984, Damascus, Syria) lives and works in Dresden, Germany. Halbouni studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts Damascus and the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Dresden (Dresden Academy of Fine Arts) where he attended the master class of Prof. Eberhard Bosslet. Halbouni was awarded a.o. with the Marion Ermer Award 2016 from the Museum der Bildende Künste Leipzig and most recently participated in the FFO Artist in Residence Program (Foreign Ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany, 2018).

Halbouni’s artistic practice is informed by a participatory approach that spans a wide range of media and often incorporates ordinary objects and materials. In his widely acclaimed memorial piece Monument, Halbouni put three buses, upended, in front of Dresden’s Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady). The square in front of the Frauenkirche is symbolic, as the church was destroyed during the bombing of Dresden at the end of World War II. Halbouni’s installation not only alluded to the ravages of war but also created a symbol of hope for war-torn countries, which, like the city of Dresden, may one day rise again from the ashes. Halbouni also erected Monument in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin as part of the Third Berlin Autumn Salon in 2017. In addition to interventions in public space, Halbouni also creates more classic sculptural works.

Halbouni has had numerous solo and group exhibitions: They will not endure it (Rotor, Graz, Austria, 2018); Parallel Vienna (Vienna, Austria, x2018); Neuer Norden Zürich (Zürich, Switzerland, 2018); The Island is what the sea surrounds (European Capital of Culture 2018, Valetta, Malta), What If (Edinburgh Art Festival, 2017); Your Story (Kunsthalle Emden, Germany, 2017), The Restless Earth (Triennale de Milano, Italy, 2017); Installation Monument (Neumarkt, Dresden; Brandenburger Tor - Berlin Autumn Salon, Berlin, Germany, 2017); Nowhere is Home (Museum of Fine Arts, Leipzig, 2016); Baustelle Europa (Kunsthaus Dresden, Germany, 2016); ASYLUM (Bielefelder Kunstverein, Bielefeld, Germany, 2016).

Zilberman Gallery Istanbul
İstiklal Cad. No.163 Mısır Apartmanı K.3 D.10
Beyoğlu 
Istanbul

Zilberman Gallery Berlin
Goethestraße 82
10623 Berlin