Lehmann Maupin would like to announce an exhibition by artist Kutlug Ataman. This is Ataman's third solo exhibition at Lehmann Maupin and will consist of two video installations, The 4 Seasons of Veronica Read and kutlug ataman's semiha b. unplugged.
The 4 Seasons of Veronica Read is a four-screen video installation centering on an English woman who talks over the course of an entire year about a flower bulb. With over 900 Hippeastrum bulbs in her two-bedroom house, Veronica Read's obsession with these flowers is all consuming. Masquerading as a documentary about the Hippeastrum flower bulb, the work is actually a portrait of a woman wholly devoted to the care of these bulbs, which contain only the hope of flowering once a year.
Kutlug Ataman's semiha b. unplugged features 90 year-old Turkish opera diva Semiha Berksoy. Her life spans most of Turkey's twentieth century history, from the old Ottoman Empire to the present. For almost eight hours, she tells the stories of her life, re-enacting scenes from her past, as well as from her operas. The viewer cannot help but accept the presented reality as it appears on screen, trying to make sense of the blurred area between fiction and reality.
Kutlug Ataman was born in Istanbul, received his MFA in Film from UCLA and now lives in Barcelona. Ataman's video work has been included in the Venice Biennale, the Bienal de São Paulo, and Documenta 11. The Nikolaj Contemporary Art Center in Copenhagen and the BAWAG Foundation in Vienna recently held survey exhibitions of his work. Upcoming exhibitions include a solo show at the Serpentine Gallery in London and participation in the Tate Triennial.