Q&A WITH DENİZ ARTUN
On Saturday, 20 December, Galeri Nev will host a Signed Art Gifts Christmas Market at Sanayi313 between 11:00 and 17:00. Petra Roasting Co.’s coffees and bakery corner will also be joining us. On this occasion, we sat down with Galeri Nev Director Deniz Artun for a New Year Q&A.
Among all the Christmas markets you’ve visited so far, which one impressed you the most and why?
It’s hard to choose just one Christmas market, but I think I’m most fond of the ones with carousels. And also, that time before the New Year, there are those incredibly tempting gift lists from galleries and museum shops that I fall into like Alice and can’t escape from for hours. Handmade artist books, tote bags, silkscreen prints… All of these are wonderful. But the most exciting of all are the gift objects created when artists fully surrender to the spirit of the New Year, treating them almost like toys designed for adults.
What can visitors expect at Galeri Nev’s Christmas Market at Sanayi313 on the 20th of December?
We’re bringing signed gift pieces by fourteen artists, including Alev Ebüzziya, Necla Rüzgâr, Mehtap Baydu and Gökhun Baltacı. There will be silver caterpillars to “rest” our table knives, hand-worked linen napkins, liqueur glasses, of course bracelets, brooches, earrings, sweatshirts, ceramic vases, plates, tiles, lamps, notebooks, posters, seals… In short, all of our treasures; things we’ve rolled up our sleeves to produce since 2014, sometimes driven by our own sudden enthusiasm, sometimes by that of our artists, but which we’ve never exhibited together before.
From this Christmas market, if you were to buy a gift for someone special in your life, who would it be and what would you choose?
I think I’d buy a seal by Mehtap Baydu for one of my closest girlfriends, to seal our secrets! It says, “If you don’t tell, I won’t tell.” I’m also particularly excited about our packaging; I could happily hand out gifts to everyone from those parcels. And I must confess, before the pieces are sent off, I’ve secretly chosen for myself a gazelle-decorated plate by Necla Rüzgâr, generously sized, quite literally “an armful.”
How are you planning to spend New Year’s Eve?
I’m not sure yet, but when I was a student I used to go to the gallery at night, often because it was the only place where I could use a computer to do my assignments. This year, I’d love to be at the gallery at midnight, just to play with all the toys myself.
Alev Ebüzziya
Gökhun Baltacı
Mehtap Baydu
Necla Rüzgar
