Hunger

Erkut Terliksiz

03 April - 26 April 2014

In his works, where he brings his storyteller and grotesque narrative together, Terliksiz is trying to make a connection between the nature and mind by taking daily occurrences as his starting point. In his exhibition, besides the alternative forms of the human figure, the animal figures that stand out with their storylike evocations and representations of primitive emotions grab one's attention. The viewers, on the other hand, create their own fictions by being integrated into a depicted story in each scene.

 

The paintings of Erkut Terliksiz, which remind of stories, dreams, and even cartoons, look naïve and childlike at first sight. We come across many surreal characters such as Forest jinn, the giraffe hunter, and the child whose nose fell onto the plate. As we keep looking at some figures, we notice a second face; and some figures are wrapped up with silhouettes that emerge nebulously in details. Yet, when we pay attention to what is going on, we realize that the world we are in is not as innocent as we assume, actually. These magical scenes, which swallow us with a welcoming manner at the beginning just like stories do, are made up of our emotions and fears that we try to break away from. Unlike many stories that we have heard by this time, they do not always have a happy ending. As a matter of fact, most of the stories that we had been told in our childhood, had been told us after being  altered in order to hide the violence in them. We, on the other hand, had believed in fake endings and savers.

For instance, in the original version of the story, a lumberjack does not save Red Riding Hood and her grandmother; instead, the wolf makes the girl eat the grandmother. Since this brutal and weird ending is obviously not suitable for either kids or adults, it had been hidden and altered.  In the narratives of Erkut Terliksiz, we perceive to the extent that we want to see; just as we reconstruct the stories the way we want to hear them. While we assume that we step out of the real, we find ourselves exactly in the middle of it.

The experimental use of materials that Terliksiz has focused on recently and his figures that are gradually becoming abstract are much more dominant in this exhibition. All of the materials that you will see in "Hunger" are comprised of the pieces of abandoned furniture, ripped canvases, wood, and cardboards and papers that the artist had collected from streets. Just like his stories, the materials that Erkut Terliksiz uses often emerge in almost their original forms, which are far away from the artificial perfection that we are often presented with.

 

"Hunger" will be on view at x-ist until April 26.

ERKUT TERLİKSİZ | Hunger from x-ist on Vimeo.

"Hunger IV"

Mixed media on card board, 36.5 x 85.5 cm, 2014 *Private Collection

Haz

Mixed media on wood, 94 x 37.5 cm, 2014 *Private Collection

Don't Tell Lies

Mixed media on wood, 110 x 66 cm, 2014

To All Newcomers

Mixed media on wood and card board, 128.5 x 137.5 cm, 2014

Hunger II

Mixed media on card board, 141 x 97.5 cm, 2014 *Private Collection

Hunger III

Mixed media on card board, 144 x 98 cm, 2014 *Private Collection

Akıl Bilim Merkezi

Mixed media on wood, 45 x 50.5 cm, 2014

Hunger I

Mixed media on wood and card board, 227 x 119 cm, 2014

Grandiose Deliusions

Mixed media on paper, 49.5 x 34.5 cm, 2014

Grandiose Deliusions

Mixed media on paper, 40 x 28.5 cm, 2014

Grandiose Deliusions

Mixed media on wood, 59 x 59 cm, 2014 *Private Collection

In Bazaar

Mixed media on card board, 91 x 60 cm, 2014

Let's Meet At The Top

Mixed media on foam board, 100 x 70 cm, 2014

Lost Something

Mixed media on paper, 88 x 59.5 cm, 2014

Levitation

Mixed media on paper, 50 x 35 cm, 2014

Levitation II

Mixed media on paper, 50 x 35 cm, 2014

Levitation III

Mixed media on paper, 50 x 35 cm, 2014 *Private Collection

Bağlılık ve Samimiyet

Mixed media on paper, 124 x 114 cm, 2014

Days of Summer

Mixed media on paper, 70 x 49.5 cm, 2014 *Private Collection

Dripping Venom

Mixed media on paper, 43 x 34.5 cm, 2014

Strange Genius from Outer Space

Mixed media on wood and card board, 97 x 96 cm, 2014

This is the New Low

Mixed media on paper, 46.5 x 34 cm, 2014

This is the New Low

Mixed media on paper, 43.5 x 34.5 cm, 2014

Progress is the Realization

Mixed media on wood and card board, 145 x 100 cm, 2014

Progress is the Realization

Mixed media on paper, 99.5 x 69.5 cm, 2014

You Did Not Beat Any of Your Personal Best

Mixed media on card board and paper, 102 x 94 cm, 2014

M1

Mixed media on paper, 135 x 60 cm, 2014

M2

Mixed media on paper, 84 x 42 cm, 2014

Sad Sack

Mixed media on wood, 40 x 30 cm, 2014

Sad Sack

Mixed media on wood, 56 x 33 cm, 2014

Sad Sack

Mixed media on wood, 16 x 18 x 5 cm, 2014

Greedy 1

Mixed media on card board, 95 x 75 cm, 2014

Greedy 2

Mixed media on card board, 95 x 75 cm, 2014

Hunger V

Mixed media on wooden drawer, diptych, 38 x 29.7 cm (her biri / each), 2014

Baştan Çıkaran

Mixed media on paper, 34 x 25 cm (triptik // triptych), 2014