Under Pressure Above Water

The book accompanying the group exhibition Under Pressure Above Water opens with an essay by the exhibition’s curator Nilüfer Şaşmazer, in which she discusses the core framework and main concepts of the exhibition. The publication also includes newly commissioned essays by Aylin Vartanyan Dilaver  and Matt Hanson, exploring the power of art to bear witness to and transform crises in today’s world. In addition, it features short guide texts contextualising the practices of the participating artists Alicja Kwade, Ángela de la Cruz, Cinthia Marcelle & Jean Meeran, Cinthia Marcelle & Tiago Mata Machado, Claire Fontaine, Fatoş İrwen, Hyun-Sook Song, Mariana Vassileva, Michaël Borremans, Moris, Nadia Kaabi-Linke, Nasan Tur, Shilpa Gupta, and Ugo Schiavi within the scope of the exhibition. Designed by Emre Çıkınoğlu, the book also features  reproduction shots and exhibition views taken by Hadiye Cangökçe, Kayhan Kaygusuz, and Fırat Rüzgar.

The group exhibition Under Pressure Above Water brings together 33 works by 15 artists across various media, including painting, sculpture, and photography, in Arter’s entrance and lower ground floor galleries. Structured around two interrelated sections, the exhibition explores the anxieties provoked by the uncertainties and social injustices of our time, such as environmental disasters, global conflicts, migration, and economic instability. Tracing the impact of challenging social conditions and compounding crises on individuals, it focuses on the questions and propositions that emerge from this context through the expressive possibilities of art.