‘Antique Romance’ at Pi Artworks

ISTANBUL

Pi Artworks Istanbul is hosting Paris-based artist Maude Maris’ first solo exhibition in Turkey. 

Entitled “Antique Romance,” the exhibition consists of a considered and minimal selection of paintings and sculptures that showcase the two main sides of Maris’ practice.

The new semi-abstract compositions combine in unusual ways references to objects and architecture from both ancient cultures and contemporary civilizations.

 Recurrent within the exhibition are references to the transformed remnants of ancient civilizations: The gigantic sculptures of Mount Nemrut, Turkey, the belongings of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, and the artifacts of the Istanbul Archaeology Museum. 

Maris’ works are described as an architecture of emotion. She builds emotions through physical constructions, creating passages between the objects and figures, the past and today. 

To capture the three-dimensionality of her subjects, she always creates small sculptures to model her paintings on. In Antique Romance, the artist’s bigger sculptures are presented together with her paintings to form a broader installation.

The exhibition can be visited until Dec. 30.