Ahmet Cevdet Bey presents: Tunnel of Fear

Ahmet Cevdet Bey presents Tunnel of Fear
Artists: Cevdet Erek, Ahmet Öğüt
Curators: Çelenk Bafra, Kathrine Bolt Rasmussen
3 September–6 November 2011

Overgaden
Institute of Contemporary Art
Overgaden Neden Vandet 17
DK-1414 Copenhagen K

Opening hours:
Tuesday–Sunday 1–5pm
Thursday 1–8pm

www.iksv.org/en
www.overgaden.org

Welcome to Ahmet Cevdet Bey’s universe of tricks, thrills and everyday magic. Ahmet Öğüt and Cevdet Erek turn part of Overgaden’s top storey into a so called horror chamber full of surprises. In their first joint project, the two artists have fused to become one and the same person: the failed but proud alchemist Ahmet Cevdet Bey. In the site-specific installation which includes a playful architectural proposal for the exhibition space and a collection of images, sounds and quaint and kitschy objects, Ahmet Cevdet Bey invites us to take a journey into a world where our senses and orientation shift into a new experience, where fear, excitement and exhilaration become vague.

As in a hall of mirrors, everyday personal negotiations for recognition and respect, or about right and wrong, are distorted and magnified, along with the general human fear of loneliness, exclusion and alienation. In the exhibition, Ahmet Cevdet Bey presents all these worries and speculations to the viewers, who are invited to find themselves reflected in the tunnel’s polyphonic choir of absurdities, oddities and grotesque banalities.

Both artists work in a wide range of media, and in Tunnel of Fear, Öğüt’s critical and subtly humorous studies of everyday social and political relationships are combined with Erek’s interest in the viewer’s perception and experience of a given space. With a twinkle in the eye, the typical and low budget fear tunnel idea is combined with the minor troubles and speculations of everyday life, but also with issues relating to global economics, transnational corporations and cheap labour.

The exhibition has been organised in co-operation with Overgaden Institute of Contemporary Art and the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) realized under the auspices of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the contribution of The Promotion Fund of the Turkish Prime Ministry and the Danish Arts Council.

About the artists:

Ahmet Öğüt (b. 1981) completed a two-year residency at Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, from 2007– 2008. Solo exhibitions included Artspace Visual Arts Centre in Sydney, MATRIX Program in Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive BAM/PFA and Kunsthalle Basel. Group exhibitions include Performa 09, The third biennial of visual art performance; 5th Berlin Biennial; 9th and 12th Istanbul Biennial and the 53rd Venice Biennial, where he represented Turkey in 2009 together with Banu Cennetoglu.

Cevdet Erek (b. 1974) holds a BA in Architecture from the Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts, Istanbul, and a Masters and a PhD in Sound from the MIAM Centre for Advanced Studies in Music, Istanbul Technical University. Erek completed a two years residency at Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam, in years 2005– 2006. He has held numerous solo exhibitions including Akinci – Amsterdam, 300 m3 – Gothenburg, and group exhibitions including 8th and 12th Istanbul Biennial, Tate Modern – London, Artists Space – New York, Extra City – Antwerp and Arter – İstanbul.

Concurrently in Overgaden’s ground floor space the exhibition Terms of Belonging curated by Aileen Burns and Johan Lundh is shown. The project features Libia Castro & Ólafur Ólafsson, Kajsa Dahlberg, Luca Frei, Olivia Plender, Gåafstand (Pia Rönicke & Nis Rømer), Superflex, Althea Thauberger and Johan Tirén,

For further information about the exhibition, please contact Deniz Ova at deniz.ova@iksv.org or call +90 212 3340754.
For press enquiries, please contact Elif Obdan at elif.obdan@iksv.org or call +90 212 3340713.

For more information: www.iksv.org/en; www.overgaden.org
For press images: www.iksvpress.com/korku_tuneli