First a few Thoughts on Collecting Contemporary Art

People collect contemporary art for several reasons. Some do it as a fancy hobby in order to spend their spare time with an exclusive cultural activity. For others, it is a passion that occupies a lot of their time, energy and money. These people understand collecting art as an adventure that widens their intellectual and spiritual horizon. Some see it as an investment tool like gold, stocks or real estate. Again other people do it for gaining social prestige in order to belong to and be accepted by a certain elitist social class. I believe a collector should be serious, passionate and professional in order to create a great collection that reflects his personal taste and understanding of art.

There is a big difference between assembling works of art and collecting them, because a meaningful collection requires personal investment and a lifelong learning process. That is why an art collection not only enriches your bank account, but mainly your individual path through life, onto which you are supposed to constantly grow in character and personality. A collection without passion, without personal engagement is just a shiny but empty shell. You cannot give someone a shopping list in order to assemble works of art, and those, who see it as a pure asset class should be warned: Art can also be a very bad investment, and when you have the wrong works hanging on your wall, you will not gain appreciation and prestige but laughs and mockery.

Nevertheless, collecting contemporary art is a worldwide trend, in which several art scenes and their markets constantly call for attention in order to become the new hot spot for artists, gallery owners, collectors, curators and art writers. Since the millennium this phenomenon of the international scene became a rather popular trend in Turkey as well. Now, newspapers and magazines write about it, art seminars give insight in it, the majority of art galleries deal it, and the art fairs in Istanbul show how great it is to build a collection. Though, the group of serious collectors is still small. Nevertheless, their numbers as well as the quality of their collections are accumulative due to the rising awareness of the importance of passion, knowledge and professionalism.

The Importance of the “Young Collectors” series

The exhibition series “Young Collectors”, which was conceptually developed last year by Ayda Elgiz Güreli, proves that there is an increased interest in the field of collecting contemporary art. It is reflecting on current tendencies in the organisation and management of private collections, and aims at raising awareness and visibility of this field by exhibiting parts of rather newly established collections of contemporary art. With the “Young Collectors” series, the museum also gives collectors the chance to share their works with other art lovers, and maybe inspires other people to start collecting. The exhibition series also matches with the Elgiz Museum’s vision and mission of supporting the local art scene, and its various actors. The museum is already a good example for the development and presentation of a strong international collection here in Turkey. The institution also positively contributes to the development of the local art scene by organizing international conferences on museology and collection management. Now, following the collaborative character of “Young Collectors”, the museum offers a big part of its exhibition space to other collectors. By doing so, it goes beyond the usual routines of a private collection museum and shares its institutional power with other collectors. Also, it supports the visibility and recognition of the scene of young collectors. I thus sense, the series, next to showing great works of art, possess a cultural-political dimension. 

Curatorial Idea

As curator of the exhibition, I have put the collectors in the focus of the exhibition. “Young Collectors 2” brings together 27 works from the collections of Şeli-Alber Elvaşvili, İrem Sina Kınay, Billur-Atilla Tacir, Şebnem-Mahmut Ünlü. The exhibition not only presents various art historical, as well as formal, aesthetic and conceptual facets of contemporary art, but also different approaches, and ideas of four art collections.

The exhibition design and curatorial idea is structured like a path through four different collections. That is why I divided the space into four sections. Each section reflects the character of one collection. The show starts with examples from the Şebnem-Mahmut Ünlü Collection, and focuses on large figurative portraits, and landscapes. So, with this rather consistent and homogenous selection regarding aesthetics and concepts, the exhibition starts with two popular genres and styles. Also, as the works are dealing with the psycho-dramatic interrelationship between the individual and the world, the spectator faces a very common topic of contemporary art. That is why the first section of the show functions as an introduction to the current state of today’s art, as well as in trends of its collection. Later the show continues with the Billur-Atilla Tacir Collection. Here a rather eclectic selection is shown, in which the works are characterized by expressive gestures and multi-layered aesthetics. The clashes of textures and styles refer to the heterogeneity and pluralism of today’s reality constructions. Then the visitor encounters pieces of the Şeli-Alber Elvaşvili Collection. Here there is a transition from geometrical abstraction to an aesthetic, in which expressive and lyrical abstract approaches are mingled with rational and conceptional considerations.

In the end, two semi-figurative paintings, which balance abstract and conceptual attitudes, build the end of this section. In the end, a selection of the İrem-Sina Kınay collection is shown. As this international collection is generally formed with a focus on Asian art, many realistic paintings from Chinese artists, which critically review topics of childhood, military and nationalism for creating a socio-political critique of the regime, are exhibited. The typographic print by Mel Bochner and abstracted photo work by Murat Germen critically comment on any possibility of absolute truth or objective reality construction.

I would like to thank our collectors for sharing their precious art works with us! Also, I would like to congratulate Ayda Elgiz Güreli and her team for starting this important series. With their help, Young Collectors 2 gives insight in the character of four different collections in order to reveal various tastes, and ideas about art. The show proves that the collection of contemporary art leads to different ways of reviewing and understanding the world. It also shows that collecting art should be attached to and based on the personality of the collector. A collection should burst with character says Adam Lindemann. I totally agree and hope that the visitors of our exhibition get inspired for daring to begin a journey beyond the known in order to enrich themselves spiritually and intellectually. Here the series matches the idea of Ayda Elgiz Güreli for whom the exhibition series means a spiritual journey. Welcome on board then!