C.A.M. Art Gallery in Istanbul, NIHAL MARTLI

Nihal Martlı’s fifth solo show at C.A.M Gallery interprets the woman characters that she flirts with during herstory of painting with a new perception.
In Martli’s oeuvre, there’s a heroine painted in a condition reflecting her humor or in an emptiness with patterns of signification. Within the works of “I Walk the Line”, there is a search of a new context which can be the contrast of the profound meaning that the artist has always hunted for; with a sympathy for apathy, she idealizes the women who has been the leitmotiv of her works for quite a while.
For thirty thousand years, since the “Venus” of Willendorf, the female body has been one of the most popular subjects for many artists. From the last ten years of 19th century ‘female’ has been painted as a symbol of the origin of femininity, charm and erotism adapted to the taste of the epoch. This depiction of women—present in Martli’s paintings—relates with an esprit of Pin-up woman that portrays an “ideal” woman, unchained, sexy but chaste; provocative but not vulgar through the new works of the artist.
In her paintings, Martli forms dialogues with Art History as well as her previous works; recurring images (animals, old cars, bathtub) on her canvases pin up to certain places and moods.
In her previous show “Romantique” (2012), artist had surrendered by the charm of romanticism and Belle Époque, with “I walk the line” the artist leads the spectator to the colorful epoch of 30s and 70s with images of plants, animals and nostalgic objects that accompany human figures.
You can visit until May 25, 2014…..