Premio Combat Prize

THE PENDULUM
With a self-assigned role as “a meticulous observer of the city”, Volkan Kiziltunc analyses time in a wider perspective far from the photographic moment. Hunting for situations in the threshold between the past and the future, Kiziltunc’s work re establishes the relationship between still and the moving image.
In line with this obsession, Kiziltunc continues to focus on the liaison between the photograph and the motion picture. Using found 8mm and super 8mm footage by Istanbul’s upper and middle class families that represent a period between 1960’-80’s as his new visual source, in his latest video installation ‘The Pendulum’. Different from his previous work ‘The Unspectacular’ where the artist offers us a moment of observation and contemplation, in this video installation, Kiziltunc is examining the term of cinematic loop in a conceptual dimension and draws attention to a state of detachment from the premise of time as an endless record.
Volkan Kızıltunç’s works are characterized by sobriety, minimalism, clarity and simplicity with open eyes and an analytical mind. Through his search for unique visual material, he reviews our reality vis-à-vis the creation of cinematic shots to convert elements of memory into memory sculptures.
Accordingly, the pendulum is trying to deal with the relationship of time and space to conceptualize movement and the construction of movement-image whose visual roots are embedded in the proto-cinema era and the first experiments of Muybridge.
Memory explorations as his point of departure, Kiziltunc is creating a no-man’s-land in which time and space do not exist in the continuity of his cinematic loops as he is reconstructing the endlessness of the loop as a narrative form of computer age.
BIOGRAPHY
Volkan Kızıltunç was born in Ankara in 1976. After studying archeology in Istanbul University he had studied photography at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University and graduated in 2005.
That year he had choosen to the Young Talents in Turkish Photography Exhibition with his project ‘’In Situ’’ which is organised by Geni Açı Photography Magazine. In 2006 he took part to an international exhibition & book project in Germany, “Last & Lost – Pictures of A Vanishing Europe” which had exhibited in Germany and Austria. As the only Turkish artist, he had represented with 10 photos from the outskirts of Istanbul along with artists from 15 European countries. In 2012 he’d selected to a photography project in Latvia called, ‘Middle Town’’, which was organised by ISSP (International Summer School of Photography) in Latvia. In 2013 he’s selected as 2013 Turkish Winner also the VIG (Vienna Insurance Group) Special Exhibition Invitation Winner of ESSL ART AWARD CEE which is organised by ESSL Contemporary Art Museum Vienna. In 2013 he’s shortlisted as a finalist in the Video art section of ARTE LAGUNA PRIZE and exhibited in Arsenale, Venice.
Since 2009 he’s been working as a research assistant in Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University ,Department of Photography. He’s doing photography and video projects and living in Istanbul.
EDUCATION
2014 MFA Photography , Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University
2011 Photography , University of Applied Arts Vienna
2005 BA Photography , Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University
1998 Classical Archeology , Istanbul University
AWARDS
2014 ART NOVA 100, (Winner), Beijing
2014 ARTE LAGUNA PRIZE, Venice (Shortlisted)
2013 ESSL ART AWARD CEE 2013, (Winner),Vienna
2013 VIG (Vienna Insurance Group) Exhibition Invitation Award, (Winner), Vienna
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2013 [In] The Threshold, Merkur Gallery, Istanbul
2012 [In] The Threshold, Tek Kubbe, Tophane-i Amire Culture & Arts Center, Istanbul
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2015 REDBULL ART AROUND, Istanbul
2015 SMALL FACES, BIG BODIES, Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art, Istanbul
2015 TAKE IT or LEAVE IT, Merkur Gallery, Istanbul
2014 EUROPEAN WEEKS, Passau Museum of Modern Art, Passau, Germany
2014 JUNGE KUNST, Ausstellungszentrum im Ringturm, Vienna, Austria
2014 ARTE LAGUNA PRIZE FINALIST’S EXHIBITION, Arsenale, Venice, Italy
2013 PLUG-IN ISTANBUL, NEW MEDIA SECTION, Contemporary Istanbul 08, Istanbul
2013 TRANSCENDING CULTURES, ESSL ART AWARD CEE 2013 Winner’s Exhibition, ESSL Contemporary Art Museum, Klosterneuburg, Vienna, Austria
2013 AVOIDING UTOPIAS, Werkleitz Halle, Halle-Saale, Germany
2013 OUT OF PLACE, UNION OF FAITH, Mardin, Turkey
2013 ESSL ART AWARD CEE 2013 TURKEY FINALISTS EXHIBITION, Tophane-i Amire Culture & Arts Center, Istanbul
2013 MAMUT ART PROJECT, Antrepo No:5, Istanbul
2013 WATER WORK, Siemens Art Gallery, Istanbul
2012 THE END, Curator: Marcus Graf, Plato Art Space, Istanbul
2012 WORLDS UNDER CONSTRUCTION, Goethe Institute Thessaloniki,Thessaloniki, Greece
2012 REALM, Ausstellungszentrum Heiligenkreuzer Hof, Vienna, Austria
2012 TRANSFORM III, PANDORA’S BOX, Teleglion Foundation of Arts, Thessaloniki, Greece
2012 FOCUS, Tatranska Galeria, Poprad, Slovakia
2012 SPACELESS PLACE, Studio 9 Istanbul, Istanbul
2011 AUSSER BETRIEB III, Angewandte Kunst, Vienna, Austria
2011 MY DEAR CARGO, Kunsthalle Bremerhaven , Bremerhaven, Germany
2011 1.ST PHOTOGRAPHY AUCTION IN TURKEY EXHIBITION, Artium Modern, Istanbul
2010 5. INTERNATIONAL ART STUDENTS TRIENNIAL, Marmara University Fine arts Faculty , Istanbul
2008 LAST & LOST – PICTURES OF A VANISHING EUROPE, Welterbe Zollverein Schacht XII, Essen, Germany
2008 LAST & LOST – PICTURES OF A VANISHING EUROPE, Atelier Kultursysteme Weiße Stadt Brückenhaus, Berlin, Germany
2007 LAST & LOST – PICTURES OF A VANISHING EUROPE, Forum Gestaltung, Magdeburg, Germany
2007 COURIER INTERNATIONAL VIDEO ART FESTIVAL, Kargart, Istanbul
2006 CITY AND BELONGING, I. Istanbul Photography Biennial, Darphane-i Amire Galleries, Istanbul
2006 LAST & LOST – PICTURES OF A VANISHING EUROPE, Staatlichen Galerie, Neunkirchen, Neunkirchen, Austria
2006 LAST & LOST – PICTURES OF A VANISHING EUROPE, Literaturhaus of Munich, Munich, Germany
2006 METU VIDEO ART FESTIVAL, Middle East Technical University, Ankara
2005 YOUNG TALENTS IN TURKISH PHOTOGRAPHY III, Istanbul Center of Photography , Istanbul
2001 ASPECTS OF BALKAN PHOTOGRAPHY, , Photography Center of Thessaloniki , Thessaloniki, Greece
ART FAIRS
2014 CONTEMPORARY ISTANBUL 09, Merkur Gallery, Istanbul
2014 UNPAINTED MEDIA ART FAIR, Merkur Gallery, Munich, Germany
2013 CONTEMPORARY ISTANBUL 08, Merkur Gallery, Istanbul
2013 ABU DHABI ART FAIR, UAE Pavillion, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2013 ART MARKET BUDAPEST, Millenaris Park Culture & Convention Center, Budapest, Hungary
PUBLICATIONS
Contemporary Istanbul 09, Catalogue
European Weeks Exhibition Catalogue, Museum of Modern Arts Passau Publications
Arte Laguna Prize Finalists Book, The Italian Cultural Association MoCA Publications
Transcending Cultures, Essl Art Award CEE 2013, Edition Sammlung Essl
Out of Place: Union of Faith, Exhibition Catalogue
Mamut Art Project, Exhibition Catalogue
6. International Art Students Trianniel, Exhibition Catalogue, Marmara University Fine Arts Faculty Publications
Water Work, Exhibition Catalogue, Siemens Art Publications
Transform III, Pandora’s Box/ Hope, Exhibition Catalogue
The End, Exhibition Catalogue, Plato Art Center Publications
No More Luggage, Exhibition Catalogue, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Publications
100 Young Face, Exhibition Catalogue
Collaborations of Young Artists, Exhibition Catalogue
Art Photography ,I.st Photography Auction in Turkey, Exhibition Catalogue, Artium Modern Publications
5. International Art Students Trianniel, Exhibition Catalogue, Marmara University Fine Arts Faculty Publications
Courier International Video Art Festival , Exhibition Catalogue
Third Circulations Artist, 2006 16. Istanbul Art Fair, Exhibition Catalogue
Last & Lost – Atlas d’une Europe Fantome, Les Editions Noir sur Blanc
Last & Lost – Bilder Eines Verschwindenden Europas , Suhrkamp Verlag
Young Talents in Turkish Photography III , Geniş Aci Photography Magazine, Special Issue, Genis Aci Publications
Aspects of Balkan Photography , Exhibition Catalogue, Thessaloniki Center of Photography Publications