Liste Art Fair Basel

Quietness can be a key word for Birsel (1963, TR) and Cunnane’s (1989, IE/FR) works, and behind this quietness, both practices contain subtle, persuasive and memorable tensions. For Cunnane, discovery is integral to his work. It is a deliberate approach as it is relational and fleeting, vantage points alter and change perpetually. None of these works are staged or planned, they are encountered as the artist wanders. Birsel, a founding member of contemporary art in Turkey, often recounts walking as a mode of thinking and an integral part of his practice. In these walks and wanderings he often collects found objects later to be transformed and used in his installations. In Birsel’s works, personal sensitivities are intertwined with political expressions. Öktem Aykut aims to emphasize an alternative take on the subtle uncertainties in a contemporary global culture. Cunnane and Birsel’s works point to both something that has happened and something that has yet to come.