instru-mental II/ Kemal Tufan

May 15 – June 7, 2013

In his latest exhibition ‘instru-mental II’, Kemal Tufan deepens his previous works on cage-like forms with new depictions. Beginning with metal sculptures of fountain pens and hammerhead sharks, the series evolve into more minimal forms.
One of the most compelling aspects of the artist’s metal works of this fashion is their covering of space, not through volume but rather, through “delimitation”. The bodies of Tufan’s sculptures are inviolate. This inviolability does not constitute itself upon the visual space because it is possible to observe space from within the sculpture. This is why they are built upon the relationship between space and perception. There is no need for a visual space proportionate to the space covered by the sculpture itself. ‘Cage’ is a structure that allows the perception of within from without and vice versa and that creates a space within the space. This situation, which inclines to analyse the fundamental problems of the art of sculpture is also the consequence of the artist’s interpretation of concepts such as “camouflage”, “protection” and “nature” in his own iconography.
In Tufan’s ‘instru-mental II’, the clouds suspended from the gallery ceiling have rendered this quality in particular. By interpreting the volatile qualities of a cloud, which can entered into as well as being visually observed, with his own materials, Kemal Tufan establishes a poetic transfer. The temporary forms of the statuesque clouds retain their transparency in Tufan’s sculptures.
Instead of one that moves on directly to the arrangements, Kemal Tufan is an artist that meanders around the boundaries of the classical material and that investigates the definition of the art of sculpture. The introduction of literary styles of paradox, contradiction and irony into the sculptural space; embedding of moving images into sculptures and the occasional shift of animate entities into sculptures are the consequences of Kemal Tufan’s self-description as a sculptor rather than his being a multi-disciplinary artist. By holding sculpture at the centre, Tufan allows other materials to become sculptures themselves.