ENDLESS LANDSCAPES

Bilsart presents Murat Kahya’s  exhibition entitled ‘Endless Landscapes’ between March 13 – 23, 2024.

In the installation named ‘Endless Landscapes’, I present a segment from my project called ‘Along the River’, on which I have been working since 2019. This work consists of various combinations of photographs I have taken over four years in different regions of the Kızılırmak River, focusing on the river and its water. In this installation, I establish an organic relationship with the images I have obtained by following the river, and explore new landscapes born from this relationship.
In the first part of the installation, we witness the creation process of various collage works made by combining photographs printed on transparent paper in the workshop. Despite being taken in different parts of the river, these collages are a synthesis of works spontaneously coming together in the workshop. By using elements from the photographs, I discover new possibilities while creating this unity. I create non-existent landscapes by connecting these images intertwined through water, and enrich and dimensionalize them by supporting them with found objects in the river. In this video work, while trying to show viewers what they can do in the area with projectors, I explore possibilities and conduct various experimental studies. During these experiments, I objectify the emerged landscapes by compressing them between two glasses in the installation. Thus, I create a space where the emerging new landscapes and spaces can be physically experienced. In the area where projectors are located, I create an interactive space for the viewers. In this area, I offer an environment where viewers can combine landscapes based on their own experiences and create new possibilities. I aim for the video work and photograph installation in the installation to guide the viewers in this sense. I aim to document the works that viewers will experience throughout the exhibition period to create an output of the exhibition.

ABOUT MURAT KAHYA

Murat Kahya is a Turkish artist born in Ankara in 1989. After dropping out of his engineering program at İzmir 9 Eylül University, he pursued his passion for photography and enrolled in the photography department at the same institution in 2009, where he graduated with the highest honors. Throughout his educational journey, Kahya participated in several art projects such as the Mamut Art Project and group exhibitions held at the Pera Museum. He received recognition for his works and won the Young Photographer Award of the Turkish American Association in 2015 for his New Americana exhibition, which was later exhibited at Base Istanbul. Kahya’s move to Istanbul in 2015 opened new opportunities for him, and his works were displayed in several group exhibitions, including the Istanbul Design Biennial, Troy: The Land of Dreams, and the Darağaç collective. In his recent project-based works, Kahya incorporates new tools into the production phase, moving beyond the two-dimensional form of photography and creating intimate and personal spaces for his audience.
Kahya is currently continuing his graduate studies in Mimar Sinan University’s Photography Department while working on his ongoing “Along the river” project, which centers around the Kızılırmak River, initiated in 2019. He resides in Istanbul, where he works as an independent photographer, exploring the transformative power of time and change through his work.