Desen Halıçınarlı’s solo exhibition titled “Palas Pandıras,” curated by Nergis Abıyeva, will be held at Quick Art Space from January 10 to April 1, 2025.
The selection of works, created by the artist between 2012 and 2024, includes paintings, engravings, three-dimensional objects, and installations, focusing on the urban fabric and memory spaces of Istanbul. The exhibition, featuring many works that will be shown to the public for the first time, presents a semi-imaginary urban texture where hybrid buildings and independent spaces interconnect through layers in specific areas, rather than architectural technical drawings or photographic depictions.
The title, which expresses the rush and chaotic states of Istanbul and its residents, contrasts with Halıçınarlı’s layered and process-driven production. The “Palas Pandıras” exhibition, which also reflects a manifestation of Halıçınarlı’s ongoing engraving workshops and teaching practice, offers a glimpse into the last decade of an independent artist in the midst of their career.
A parallel event program, including a guided tour of the exhibition and an artist talk, will be shared in the coming days.
About Quick Tower and Quick Art Space:
Quick Tower, winner of numerous international awards, was designed by Vienna-based architect Gerhard G. Feldmeyer-HPP Architekten with a balance concept, and its construction was completed in December 2015. When Maher Holding moved into the building in March 2021, the idea arose to transform the dynamic lobby floor into a non-profit cultural and arts space.
In May 2023, Quick Art Space was established under the leadership of Nergis Abıyeva as the founding director. Drawing inspiration from Quick Tower’s principles of sustainability, livability, and functionality, Quick Art Space utilizes the building’s lobby and square area. Created as a non-profit cultural and art space, it aims to be a dynamic and sustainable platform. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, it strives to become a meeting place through events such as exhibitions, workshops, performances, talks, and experimental theater. The platform’s mission is to support and make visible living artists. The advisory board of Quick Art Space includes art historian, academic, and writer Seza Sinanlar Uslu, cultural manager, program curator, and writer Emre Erbirer, museologist, curator, and writer Canan Cürgen Gültaş, and publisher and writer Kültigin Kağan Akbulut. The corporate identity and poster designs of Quick Art Space are by Suat Gürsözlü, while the exhibition design is handled by Kubilay Özmen. Quick Art Space opened its doors for the 2023-2024 season with the “Yapıntı Doğa” exhibition, followed by solo exhibitions by Bahadır Yıldız, Benal Dikmen, and Kaan Kemal Öner.
Visiting Information:
The exhibition is open every day from 09:00 to 20:00.
Address: İçerenköy, Umut Sk. No:10-12, 34752 Ataşehir/Istanbul.
Transportation: Quick Tower is located right next to the D-100 highway and on the M4 Kadıköy-Kartal metro line. It is a 5-minute walk from the M4 Kozyatağı metro station (exit 3). There is also an İspark parking lot near the building.
Contact:
Website
YouTube
About the Artist:
Desen Halıçınarlı (1983) graduated with honors from the Painting Department of Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in 2006, after completing his education at İzmir İ. S. Anadolu Fine Arts High School in 2001. He won the Sabancı Award and began his master’s degree at MSGSÜ in the same year. Throughout his higher education, in addition to painting, he also received training in engraving and fresco workshops. He graduated with a thesis titled “The Use of Urban Imagery in Painting Art” in 2009.
From 2011 to 2022, Halıçınarlı taught printing in the engraving workshop and Basic Design courses in the Architecture Faculty at Istanbul Technical University. In June 2022, he won an open call in Denmark and completed a mural project that will be exhibited for five years.
About the Curator:
Nergis Abıyeva (1991) is currently pursuing her PhD in Art History at Istanbul Technical University. After completing her undergraduate education at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University and Brera Academy in Milan, she graduated from the Western Art and Contemporary Art master’s program at MSGSÜ with a thesis titled “The Art and Life of Tiraje Dikmen.” Her research on “Painters Going to Paris in the 1950s in the Context of Tiraje Dikmen” won the SALT Research Fund in 2017. Between 2015 and 2017, she worked as the archive coordinator for Maçka Art Gallery’s 40th Anniversary projects, contributing to archival exhibitions. She also worked as a researcher at a private collection and Arter between 2017 and 2020.
Abıyeva has written for books and periodicals since 2015, and in 2022, she authored a monograph on Murat Sinkil’s art and life titled “The Dervish of Contemporary Painting.” She has written profiles for Tiraje Dikmen, Mihri Rasim, and Gülçin Aksoy for the AWARE platform. In collaboration with Ceren Özpınar, her article “Inside The Red Mansion: Füsun Onur’s World of Objects, Care Relations, and Art” was published in the academic visual culture journal Image & Text in 2023.
Recent group exhibitions she curated include “The Balance of Wisdom” (Quick Art Space, 2024), “Mental Imaginings of Nonexistent Things” (Summart, 2022), and “Another Artist Women’s Atlas” (Tophane-i Amire Cultural and Art Center, 2022). Abıyeva curated solo exhibitions for Nazan Azeri, Gülçin Aksoy (“The Medal of Compassion”), Benal Dikmen (“Troyan Women” and “Helen’s Double Life”) in 2023 and 2024. She has also taught courses on the Marketing of Art Works at Yıldız Technical University and Art History at Altınbaş University.
