CANAN TOLON: SIDESTEPS AT PARASOL UNIT LONDON
15 January 2014 – 16 March 2014
CANAN TOLON: SIDESTEPS AT PARASOL UNIT LONDON
15 January 2014 – 16 March 2014
Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art is delighted to
present a solo exhibition of works by Turkish-born artist Canan Tolon. This,
her first major exhibition in a London institution, provides in-depth insight
into her works from 1986 to the present day. It includes Futur imparfait,
1986–1999, a series of 33 ink-wash and crayon figurative drawings that were
recently acquired by the British Museum. At Parasol unit they will be on show
all together for the first time in the UK.
Apart from a short spell early in her artistic career when Tolon
made works that were both personal and figurative, much of her creativity is
process based and deals with space, time, gravity, and chance interactions
between disparate materials. Her early interest in the marks left by the
processes of growth and transformation over time led her, for example, to
making works which in her own words are landscapes stripped to their elemental
state. Her work on some of these early assemblages of man-made materials
initiated some unusual techniques, such as applying coffee grounds or letting
grass grow on a canvas, and processes with unpredictable outcomes; for
instance, by allowing rust to occur naturally and mix with pigment in her
paintings.
Space is the main subject of Canan Tolon’s work, especially in the
way it is visualised, politicised, imagined and remembered. Always astute and
elaborate, her technique for creating space may at first sight seem random, but
is clearly the result of painstaking investigation, premeditation and control.
A number of Tolon’s oil paintings are executed in black-and-white or mute
colours with brighter touches. Whether large or small in scale, their form
often suggests architectural imagery. Formally precise, rhythmic and
structured, they are also simultaneously elusive, transient, accidental, and
surprise viewers into reassessing what they see.
Tolon’s paintings are also informed by her own photographic
experience and skill, though she uses no collage or printing techniques in
their making. Rather, she works hands-on with tools, such as straight edges and
knives, to produce an effect of ‘instant reality’. This is particularly true of
her works on Mylar, which at first glance look like photographic prints of
something familiar, yet on closer examination the ‘photographic reality’ falls
away and their illusionistic nature is revealed. Tolon’s aim is to make
paintings that are apparently recognisable, yet elude description.
Born in Istanbul, Canan Tolon now lives and works in the San
Francisco Bay Area, California, USA and in Istanbul, Turkey.
This exhibition is curated by Ziba Ardalan, Founder / Director of
Parasol unit.
Canan Tolon: Sidesteps is accompanied by a comprehensive book,
including an artist interview by Ziba Ardalan and essays by Bill Berkson and John
Yau, published by Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art.
http://parasol-unit.org/canan-tolon
http://mymagicalattic.blogspot.com/2012/12/painter-canan-tolon-1955-istanbul-turkey.html
You may reach the Canan Tolon's exhibition news: Somewhere now at Von Lintel Gallery and interview to click below links.
http://mymagicalattic.blogspot.com/2013/04/canan-tolon-at-von-lintel-gallery-new.html
UNTITLED 9.3-2013
CANAN TOLON'S
EXHIBITION VIEW FROM PARASOL UNIT
FUTUR IMPARFAIT 1986 - 1999
Ink on Mylar, 27.9 x 35.6 cm (11 x 14 in). The British Museum 2013,
6039.1.1-33. Funded by the Contemporary and Modern Middle East Art Acquisitions
group (CaMMEA) and SAHA – Supporting Contemporary Art from Turkey
FUTUR IMPARFAIT 1986 - 1999
Ink on Mylar, 27.9 x 35.6 cm (11 x 14 in). The British Museum 2013, 6039.1.1-33. Funded by the Contemporary and Modern Middle East Art Acquisitions group (CaMMEA) and SAHA – Supporting Contemporary Art from Turkey 
FUTUR IMPARFAIT 1986 - 1999 ( DETAIL )
Ink on Mylar, 27.9 x 35.6 cm (11 x 14 in). The British Museum 2013,
6039.1.1-33. Funded by the Contemporary and Modern Middle East Art Acquisitions
group (CaMMEA) and SAHA – Supporting Contemporary Art from Turkey
CANAN TOLON'S EXHIBITION VIEW FROM PARASOL UNIT
GLITCH I - 2006,
Oil on canvas, 58 x 54"
© courtesy of the Artist and Gallery Paule Anglim
© courtesy of the Artist and Gallery Paule Anglim
REFLEX 4- 2011
UNTITLED 2.3 - 2013
CANAN TOLON'S EXHIBITION VIEW FROM PARASOL UNIT
UNTITLED 2 - 2009
UNTITLED 6 - 2009
Oil on canvas, 28 x 23 in ©
Canan Tolon
UNTITLED 8.3 - 2013
BREAK IN 2 – 2009
GLITCH XIII - 2008
Oil on canvas, 30 x 25 in ©
Canan Tolon
CANAN TOLON'S EXHIBITION VIEW FROM PARASOL UNIT
UNTITLED 4.2 - 2013
BLIND THRUST 1 - 2003
UNTITLED 7.3 - 2013
REFLEX 20 - 2011
Oil on 2 panels, 16 x 32 inches
© Courtesy of the Artist and Gallery Paule Anglim
© Courtesy of the Artist and Gallery Paule Anglim
CANAN TOLON'S EXHIBITION VIEW FROM PARASOL UNIT
UNTITLED I - 2009
REFLEX 23 – 2012
UNTITLED 5.3 - 2013
CANAN TOLON'S EXHIBITION VIEW FROM PARASOL UNIT
UNTITLED 16.3 - 2013
WAITING TO HAPPEN - 2014
UNTITLED 6.2 - 2013
CANAN TOLON'S EXHIBITION VIEW FROM PARASOL UNIT
GLITCH II - 2007
Oil on canvas, 140 x 180 cm (55 x 71 in).
Tim and Nancy Howes, private collection. Photo: Eli Ridgway.
CANAN TOLON
Canan Tolon was born
in Istanbul and grew up in various European countries. After earning her
baccalauréat from the École Française d’Istanbul in Turkey, in 1975, she
studied design in Edinburgh and London. In 1980, she received a BA from
Middlesex Polytechnic / Architectural Association, London, and that same year
moved to the Bay Area of San Francisco to study for a Masters in Architecture
at the University of California at Berkeley. After graduating in 1983 she
worked for about ten years in several architecture offices while continuing her
work in the visual arts. Her paintings and installations have been exhibited
internationally. She has works in a number of major public collections,
including the British Museum, London; Istanbul Modern; IKSV (Istanbul Foundation
for Culture and the Arts); the Nesrin Esirtgen Collection, Istanbul, Turkey;
and the di Rosa Collection, Napa, USA.
You may visit others Canan Tolon’s exhibition at Von Lintel Gallery
and Parasol Unit's exhibition news quoted from Blouin Art Info web page to click below links.
http://mymagicalattic.blogspot.com.tr/2013/04/canan-tolon-at-von-lintel-gallery-new.html
