Painter Claire Arkas’ recent works, including landscapes and nudes that explore individual awareness and alienation, will be on display at IMOGA Art Space in Kuzguncuk, Istanbul from May 10 to 30.
Painter Claire Arkas, whose career includes nearly 20 exhibitions in Istanbul, Izmir, and abroad, has opened her 13th solo exhibition in Istanbul, showcasing her recent works in various techniques and themes.
The IMOGA Art Space exhibition largely features ‘landscape,’ ‘nude,’ and ‘figurative’ works in various media, including oil on canvas (OOC), acrylic, pastel, gouache, watercolor, and ink.
Arkas’ exhibition titled “Once upon a time and in a thousand forms” features approximately 30 works in ‘landscape,’ ‘nude,’ and ‘figurative’ themes. The exhibition showcases the critical, flexible, and investigative creations of today’s individuals as they oscillate between states of awareness and alienation.
The works, on display at Imoga Art Space in Kuzguncuk, Istanbul from May 10 to 30, 2024, present ‘form’ in painting as both a challenge and a resolution for viewers. Like in her previous exhibitions, painter Arkas “sows with her eyes, reaps with her hands, leaves it to time, and harvests the fruits.” In other words, “Where she concentrates on chosen moments, the sensation of time and space increasingly intertwine, progressing towards a fresh, distinctive portrayal on the surface.“
Through a productive and experimental approach, the artworks displayed in the artist’s new exhibition raise several thought-provoking questions such as “To what extent and with what depth can we possess the ‘object’ we gaze upon?” “How far and with what authenticity can we hold our gaze upon the gaze we observe?” and “Does remaining in the ‘space’ we observe betray the entirety, the grand scheme?”
Mirrored Shop Display in Paris
In addition to Arkas’ works such as ” Woman in Stripes” (2024, Oil on canvas), “Upright Woman” (2023, Acrylic on Paper), “Shower Reflection in the Night” (2024, Oil on canvas), “Young Woman in the Morning Light” (2023, Acrylic on Paper); her recent figurative work such as “Self-Portrait in a Costume” (2023, Oil on canvas), “Self-Portrait in White” (2022, Acrylic on Paper)” are exhibited, as well as “Mirrored Shop Display in Paris” (Acrylic on paper, 2022), “Life Home” (2023, Acrylic on paper), “Evening Dress Reflection” (2024, Acrylic on paper), and “Sweets Shop in Eminonu” (Acrylic on paper, 2023), consisting of outdoor compositions, await visitors at the event.
“Once upon a time and in a thousand forms ” exhibition also brings together many new works by Claire Arkas at IMOGA Art Space, including watercolor on paper, gouache on paper, drypoint and acrylic, such as “Repetition of Palm Leaves” (2023), “View from the Prinkipo Island” (2023) or “Bay in Cesme” or “A Feast of Light in the Room” (2024), “Broken Pier” (2022) or “Marine Stripes” (2022).
About Claire Arkas:
Claire Arkas was born in Izmir in 1978. Between 1997 and 1999, she finished the preparatory program at the Ecole Cantonale d’Arts du Valais in Sierre, Switzerland. Between 2000 and 2003, she pursued her education at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. During this period, Arkas studied engraving, painting, and lithography, and she continues her artistic pursuits, particularly focusing on charcoal, lithography, and oil painting. Since 2004, the artist has organized nearly twenty exhibitions in Türkiye and abroad. In 2015, she created printmaking works at the Istanbul Graphic Arts Museum (IGSM). Arkas lives and works in Istanbul.
About IMOGA Art Space:
IMOGA Art Space was founded with an ethos that draws from the artistic heritage of the Istanbul Graphic Arts Museum (IGSM), while also providing avenues for diverse technical creations and various fields of contemporary art. Following the inauguration of the IMOGA Museum, the institution took its initial step with the concept of IMOGA Art Gallery in Nisantasi, Istanbul, in 2004, and later relocated to Kiziltoprak in 2015. Since 2017, the institution has been serving art enthusiasts from its two-story space in Kuzguncuk.
Address: Kuzguncuk Mahallesi, Icadiye Cd. D:No 42A, 34674 Uskudar/Istanbul –
Information: +90 535 608 8709
