Manifesta purposely strives to keep its distance from what are often seen as the dominant centres of artistic production, instead seeking fresh and fertile terrain for the mapping of a new cultural topography.
Metin Talayman, TR
Untitled, 1974 © Metin Talayman. Photo © Manifesta 16 Ruhr /Ivan Erofeev.
Metin Talayman's moved to Berlin in 1980 on a Senate scholarship. His works, drawing on his observations of immigrant life in the city, frequently depict fragmented and tense figures within dramatic and sometimes fantastical atmospheres. Talayman's artistic practice reflects the social and psychological condition. Working with oil paint, he addresses themes such as alienation, fear and loneliness within the contradictions of metropolitan life. Through the expressionistic use of color, line and later negative techniques, he employs light as a dramatic and economical means of expression. Moving between a figurative and semi-abstract visual language, he aims to reveal the psychological and social realities of human existence.