Esra Gülmen
“Don’t Play with My Emotions”
April 19 2022 - May 28 2022
PILEVNELI | Dolapdere
Floor 1,2,3
PILEVNELI is pleased to host for the first time Esra Gülmen’s solo exhibition in Turkey. The exhibition entitled "Don't Play with My Emotions" will be on view between the dates of April 19-May 28, 2022 at PILEVNELI’s location in Dolapdere.
The title of the exhibition “Don't Play With My Emotions” serves as proof of Esra Gülmen's inspiration coming from people, human psychology and problems. The artist examines, gets inspired, makes use of and discusses all the apparatus of contemporary life and popular culture, such as streets, posters, social media, conversations, music, lyrics, movies and books in her works. She asks questions through images that are essentially signs people leave around. Generally starting her questions through examining a concept or an emotion, the artist creates her works by "playing" with this concept and trying to understand it.
"Don't Play with My Emotions” is an exhibition in which Gülmen makes use of different media and techniques beyond conventional, creating a space where the artist “plays” with her own emotions and offers the visitor a playground. Esra Gülmen considers unusual everyday objects and musical instruments as canvas surfaces - playing with both medium and concept. The surface area she chooses to work on supports the meaning of the work and the concept/emotion she questions. In the temporary, volatile fiction that she thus constructs, Gülmen invites the visitor to reflect on their feelings, habits, ways to love and be loved.
While trying to expand the definition of writing and drawing as an artist, Esra Gülmen reminds us of the calligrams of the early twentieth century while focusing on the reality of the twenty-first century. Sometimes she personalizes the most familiar discourses in popular culture, at other times anonymizes a personal phrase of her own. Thus she cuts across all boundaries when it comes to selection of which material to use. According to Gülmen, curating an exhibition, within its process and conclusion, presents a place, time and space to think about where we come from.
Esra Gülmen’s most comprehensive solo exhibition to date, “Don’t Play with My Emotions”, can be visited at PILEVNELI Tuesday through Saturday between 10:00 am – 6:00 pm.