Ergin Çavuşoğlu

Desire Lines /Tarot & Chess/ (2016) portrays universal patterns of human behaviour and their relationship to past, present, and future. Looking through the prism of literary expressions articulated by Italo Calvino in his book ‘The Castle of Crossed Destinies’ (1973). In Calvino’s book “through the sequence of the pictures stories are told, which the written word tries to reconstruct and interpret.” In Desire Lines /Tarot & Chess/ the stories are told by moving images and fragmented speech sequences. The interpretations of the tarot cards allude to classic tales such as Faust and Shakespearean narratives like Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear.

Ergin Çavuşoğlu (Bulgaria) co-represented Turkey at the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003. He was shortlisted for the Beck’s Futures Prize in 2004 and for Artes Mundi 4 in 2010.

Central to Çavuşoğlu’s practice are concepts and themes that probe the notions of place, liminality, and the conditions of cultural production, which he has been exploring through a range of media, including video and sound installations, painting, sculpture, and anamorphic drawings. Solo presentations include Whitechapel Gallery, London (2020), Rampa, Istanbul (2016), PEER, London (2010), Ludwig Forum, Aachen (2009), and Kunstverein Freiburg (2008), John Hansard Gallery and NGCA (2006). Group exhibitions include ICP, New York (2023), TUAG, Medford (2022), Kunsthaus Hamburg (2020), GAM, Milano (2018), Es Baluard, Palma (2017), Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2016), Istanbul Modern, Istanbul (2015), Manifesta 8 (2010), the British Art Show 6 (2005), the 8th Istanbul Biennial (2003) and the 3rd Berlin Biennial (2003).

His works are represented in collections, including Solomon R. Guggenheim Collection, Frac Alsace, Pinakothek der Moderne, München, EMST, Athens, Istanbul Modern, and The Ludwig Collection. Çavuşoğlu lives in London. He is a Professor of Contemporary Art at Middlesex University.

CREDITS

Courtesy of the artist, Extra City Kunsthal, Platform 0090 and FLACC. Produced with the additional support of SAHA, Istanbul.

Website