Olafur Eliasson: Your unexpected encounter

Olafur Eliasson’s first solo exhibition in Türkiye, “Your unexpected encounter,” reflects the artist’s deep interest in light, color, perception, movement, geometry, and the environment. The artworks also reveal the network of relationships the artist forges between broad areas of research and his multidisciplinary practice. As well as following the personal journey of the artist, the exhibition addresses navigation and orientation on a wider scale, inspired by the site of the museum and its maritime location by the Bosphorus.

The exhibition title highlights Eliasson’s belief that it is the viewer’s active exploration and engagement that complete the artworks: Installations and site-specific artworks invite viewers to participate in a dynamic process of discovery in movement, color, and light, and in turn present surprising new perspectives of the surroundings.

This exhibition brings together the key aspects of Eliasson’s thirty-year career on form, material, geometry, and more—and it also debuts new works inspired by the Bosphorus. The artist and his works open up new possibilities for dialogue across the museum and its surroundings by blurring the boundaries between the interior and exterior. “Olafur Eliasson: Your unexpected encounter” puts participation at the forefront with a multilayered narrative that intertwines Istanbul Modern visitors, the museum’s architecture, and the Bosphorus.

Curators: Öykü Özsoy Sağnak, Nilay Dursun, Ümit Mesci

About the artist:

The works of Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson (b. 1967) explore the relevance

of art in the world at large. Since 1997, his wide-ranging solo shows—featuring installations, paintings, sculptures, photography, and film—have appeared in major museums around the globe. In 2003, he represented Denmark at the 50th Venice Biennale, and later that year he installed “The weather project” at Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, London. Eliasson’s projects in public space include “The New York City Waterfalls” (2008); “Fjordenhus,” Vejle (2018); and “Ice Watch” (2014). In 2012, Eliasson founded the social business Little Sun, and in 2014, he and Sebastian Behmann founded Studio Other Spaces, an office for art and architecture. In 2019, Eliasson was named UNDP (United Nation Development Programme) Goodwill Ambassador for climate action.

Located in Berlin, Studio Olafur Eliasson comprises a large team of craftspeople, architects, archivists, researchers, administrators, cooks, art historians, and specialized technicians.