Turkish artist displays project at Frieze East

ISTANBUL

Turkish artist Can Altay’s artwork can be found distributed across key buildings in Waltham Forest. The artwork goes on display on Aug 25 as a part of the Frieze East.

An art event dubbed the Frieze Projects East has opened in London, bringing a cultural touch to the boroughs currently hosting the 2012 Olympics. The participating artists include Turkey’s Can Altay, as well as Sarnath Banerjee, the team of Anthea Hamilton and Nicholas Byrne, Gary Webb, Klaus Weber and Ruth Ewan, the recipient of the CREATE art award. The projects are taking place in the six east London Host Boroughs for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games: Barking and Dagenham, Greenwich, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest. Frieze Projects East was commissioned by CREATE and the London 2012 Festival as part of their commitment to bringing the best artists to east London in 2012, and the series has received significant funding support from the National Lottery through the Olympic Lottery Distributor and Arts Council England.

Altay’s artwork can be found distributed across key buildings in Waltham Forest. Over 20 large, mirror-ball like sculptures are placed on doors; the works are intended to be touched, used and handled by the local communities that live and work in Waltham Forest.

Accompanying the artwork, a series of discursive pamphlets will be published and distributed in July and August. Altay’s temporary residence at the William Morris Gallery during August will consist of workshops and talks discussing and recording reactions to the artwork.

Frieze Projects East

“For the first time, the Frieze Foundation is producing a number of projects outside Frieze Art Fair,” the event’s curator, Sarah McCrory, recently said. “Frieze Projects East is to take place in the Olympic host boroughs of east London, where Frieze is based and in which many of us live. The projects have relationships with the communities in which they are based but stay true to the artists’ vision and ambition. It has been a great opportunity to deliver projects by international artists to a local audience and to continue the commitment to producing significant challenging works.”

The project features a series of six new public art projects that form part of the London 2012 Festival.