Sarp Kerem Yavuz' Curse of the Forever Sultan™
Anna Laudel Contemporary
September 20 -27 2018
Bankalar Caddesi 10
Karaköy, Beyoğlu
34421 Istanbul, Turkey
Curse of the Forever Sultan is a series of neon sculptures created by Sarp Kerem Yavuz depicting various traditional Ottoman characters from the 18th and 19th centuries. The cartoony, skeletal structure of these sculptures is an homage to videogames from the late 1980s and early 1990s, particularly the 1997 LucasArts game, The Curse of Monkey Island, from which the series gets its name. Each sculpture is life-sized or larger, and designed as a 2-dimensional caricature of a member of the Ottoman court or military. It is hard not to see the references to current events and especially the identity of the so-called Forever Sultan...
Sarp Kerem Yavuz, Okçu (Archer), 2018. Neon, 180x93cm
Born in Paris in 1991 and raised in Istanbul, Sarp Kerem Yavuz is a visual artist working primarily with photography, light projection, and video. He received his Bachelor's Degree in Studio Art with Honors from Oberlin College in 2013, and his Master of Fine Arts Degree in Studio Art from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2015. His works explore various aspects of gender, politics, religion, and violence. He is the recipient of several international accolades, including the 2016 Palm Springs Photo Festival Emerging Photographer award, presented by Leica Camera, the 2013 New Artists Society Award from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the 2013 Leah Freed Memorial Prize. He currently lives and works between Chicago and Istanbul.
LINK: Sarp Kerem Yavuz
