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| Güçlü Öztekin |
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| Güçlü Öztekin (b. 1978 Eskisehir, Turkeu). Öztekin works on his own productions as well as in collaboration with the art collective HA ZA VU ZU. His paper-based wall works and looped video projections play innocent tricks on both the eye and the imagination. Employing found film footage, Öztekin’s videos concentrate on single short snippets, repeating the moment in a monotonous cycle reminiscent of an obscure screensaver. In one work a lion roars in routine boredom; opposite, a triangular shape cut out from a woman’s face bounces around the wall, trapped within the frame of the projection. Clearly taken from a pornographic movie, the reduced image continues to echo the film’s sentiment, though the more salacious action is conspicuously absent. Öztekin’s more intricate two-dimensional paper compositions consist of craft paper, acrylic, black duct tape, and punctured holes. Although the materials are simple, hundreds of perforations supply the surface with texture and shimmer, and the result is often overtly decorative. The contents of Öztekin’s collages seem more random than the videos, and repetitive techniques are more constitutive to the process of creation than to the end result. Through his habitual craft the ordinary becomes symbolic and Öztekin’s images appear lost in time, as if icons of a primitive future. In 2008 Öztekin presented the solo exhibition Remains of Today and a Glimpse of Tomorrow at Galerie Michael Wiesehoefer, Cologne, Germany and in 2007 Bizarre Heaven at Galerist in Istanbul. His participation in group exhibitions includes; Last Things, 2007, Westfalischer Kunstverein, Münster, Germany; Works on Paper, 2006, Galerist, Istanbul; and in collaboration with the art collective HA ZA VU ZU in the 10th International Istanbul Biennial in 2005. Güçlü Öztekin is represented by Galerist, istanbul. Güçlü Öztekin lives and works in Istanbul. |
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