Setenay Alpsoy: Seen in a New Light
With 鈥楽een in a New Light鈥�, Alpsoy not only showcases her practice extending through 20 years but also carries the face of the metropolis of Istanbul which changes daily, beyond its borders.
High, concrete block apartment buildings, built to meet the housing needs after the start of the intense migration to the city since the 1950s, are the focal point of the artist's canvases. Alpsoy captures a striking geometric rhythm with the facades that completely cover the canvas and the windows, blinds, and even the air conditioning boxes on it while telling the story of the irregular growth of the city. This irregular growth is amplified by details such as the optically deformed image of a new plaza reflected toward us from the window of an older building. The artist sometimes takes a look at this chaos from a distance and creates urban landscapes in which she paints irregular groups of buildings. Thus, the viewer can follow the narrative in both the individual facades and the groups of buildings formed by these facades coming together.
Setenay Alpsoy does not glorify this concrete pile, which grows bigger and bigger each day, in her urban narrative; she is inspired by its chaos, the population that grows with each passing day, and the speed and strength all of it creates. While capturing the strenuous moments of people forcing themselves to live in this unnatural environment, she explores the dilemmas between being a part of this massive living organism and remaining an individual inside this environment.
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With 鈥楽een in a New Light鈥�, Alpsoy not only showcases her practice extending through 20 years but also carries the face of the metropolis of Istanbul which changes daily, beyond its borders.
High, concrete block apartment buildings, built to meet the housing needs after the start of the intense migration to the city since the 1950s, are the focal point of the artist's canvases. Alpsoy captures a striking geometric rhythm with the facades that completely cover the canvas and the windows, blinds, and even the air conditioning boxes on it while telling the story of the irregular growth of the city. This irregular growth is amplified by details such as the optically deformed image of a new plaza reflected toward us from the window of an older building. The artist sometimes takes a look at this chaos from a distance and creates urban landscapes in which she paints irregular groups of buildings. Thus, the viewer can follow the narrative in both the individual facades and the groups of buildings formed by these facades coming together.
Setenay Alpsoy does not glorify this concrete pile, which grows bigger and bigger each day, in her urban narrative; she is inspired by its chaos, the population that grows with each passing day, and the speed and strength all of it creates. While capturing the strenuous moments of people forcing themselves to live in this unnatural environment, she explores the dilemmas between being a part of this massive living organism and remaining an individual inside this environment.
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