Altbau

About

Showcasing artworks produced with a combination of different disciplines and techniques, Koç refers to the notions like identity, gender, and the relation between human and nature in the anthropocene epoch. 

Taking its name from the word "Altbau", which means "old apartment" in German, the works in the exhibition brings together Berlin's old apartment motifs that offer visual richness and hand made fabrics of nomads from Ayvalık, Turkey.

By combining the handmade fabric of nomads with “Altbau” motifs, Koç references art history; where she also interprets these finely balanced works as feminist storytelling about our daily surroundings.

The artist emphasises the beauty and aesthetic power of contrasting materials with traditional Turkish fabrics and decorative motifs applied on the plaster, which evokes the feeling of an archaeological find. At the same time, with the archaeological findings, the artist gives reference to an utopian world where they belong and where all genders and cultures live together equally.

Moon or Mars

The epoxy series “Moon or Mars” tells a similar story with a figurative approach where she creates another planet with foggy dystopian landscapes on a circular canvas. In this series, she questions the role of culture, in the relationship between human and nature by adding ancient sculptures, animal motifs and dried plants to these planets. With the circular canvases, the artist creates a dystopic futuristic story of humanity that eventually messed up the world and probably carried their “culture” to the Moon or Mars.

The paintings were created with dried plants and vanitas symbols are coated with epoxy, which makes the figures appear as if they are frozen in the painting forever. This time and place notions on Ekin Su Koç’s works actually comes from her own journeys and nomadic lifestyle. As she is migrating from place to place, she collects materials, cultural symbols, memories and combines them in her collage works and paintings; the stories she tells achieve deeper meaning with the titles she gives to her works.

“Altbau” is also available to visit online 

Ekin Su Koç's solo exhibition "Altbau" at Anna Laudel Düsseldorf is also available for online visits. Creating a virtual 3D visit of the gallery, the online exhibition presents the artist’s works including plaster motifs, paintings, collages, epoxy, and drawings until  4 February 2021.

For more information, please visit annalaudel.gallery