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Olafur Eliasson: Your unexpected encounter

Dates: Friday, June 07, 2024 ~ Sunday, February 09, 2025
Place: İstanbul Modern

Istanbul Modern is hosting a comprehensive selection from
the 30-year career of Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson,
whose projects and works have garnered great attention world-
wide. The exhibition titled “Olafur Eliasson: Your Unexpected
Encounter,” sponsored by Eczacıbaşı Group and VitrA, marks
the artist’s first exhibition in Turkey.

Olafur Eliasson’s first exhibition in Turkey, “Your Unexpected
Encounter,” opens on June 7 at Istanbul Modern. Considered
one of today’s most prominent artists, Eliasson’s exhibition
“Your Unexpected Encounter” offers an opportunity to explore
the artist’s 30-year practice, allowing visitors to discover the
themes that lie at the heart of his work from various perspec-
tives. The extensive exhibition, which includes nearly 40 works,
including new creations, is sponsored by Eczacıbaşı Group and
VitrA. The exhibition, where themes such as water, light, color, perception, movement, geometry, and the environment are ex-
plored, is curated by Öykü Özsoy Sağnak, Nilay Dursun, and Ümit Mesci from the museum’s curatorial team.

Eliasson, the idea that his works are completed when they face the audience is a constant theme in his practice. He defines the ac-
tive participation of art lovers as one of the key components of his works. Inviting the viewer to become part of a dynamic discovery
process, the artist’s concepts presented in different contexts or scales transform into unique experiences.

“Your Unexpected Encounter,”
The first encounter in the exhibition, which carries traces from different parts of the world, begins with the artist’s site-specific,
highly acclaimed permanent installation “Your Unexpected Journey,” specially designed for the new museum building. Reflective
circular surfaces, which create a contrast with the right angles of architecture, enable continuous and unexpected encounters.

The works on the second floor of the museum in the Temporary Exhibition Hall reflect the artist’s interest in perception, color,
light, and geometry, as well as his engagement with current global discussions throughout his career. Comprising installations,
sculptures, and photographs, the works in *”Your Unexpected Encounter”* are thematically grouped in the exhibition hall, yet
the artist’s focus on multiple themes and concepts demonstrates the relationships and permeabilities between different disciplines.
The artwork titled “From Sunset to Dawn, Bosphorus”, specially created for the exhibition and bringing the changing colors of the
Bosphorus into the gallery space, serves as the starting point for the exhibition’s journey, which continues with color experiments
and watercolors. The piece located at the entrance of the exhibition, consisting of handmade blown glass panels arranged on log
pieces known as “yalos”, greets visitors by combining Eliasson’s interest in color and light with water.

The site-specific work “Sunset Kaleidoscope”, integrated into the architecture of Istanbul Modern that connects with the Bospho-
rus, transforms the movement and landscape of the Bosphorus and brings it into the exhibition hall. The artwork gains a unique
narrative through its relationship with the city and space within the exhibition.

Light and the nature of light also stand out as prominent themes in the exhibition. The lenses, reflective surfaces, projections,
colored glasses, and kaleidoscopes featured in Eliasson’s works provide opportunities for the artist’s experiments on perception,
space, and geometry.

The watercolor works, part of the artist’s “Color Experiments” series, reflect his explorations in the realms of water, the environ-
ment, and color as he begins to develop a new color theory.

In addition to the water theme, the exhibition also showcases works that make visible Eliasson’s relationship with the environment.
The artist, who creates projects to raise awareness about the climate crisis, also presents works that reference the effects of global
warming and the disappearance of glaciers in the exhibition.