Sencer Vardarman presents his first solo exhibition in Turkey, “Virtual News”, at art ON the Gallery from April 13 to May 13.
Vardarman explains that his aim is to develop a style that combines the conceptually oriented art education he received in Germany with the classical academic training he received in Turkey, producing works with strong visual and conceptual foundations.
While each series and individual work has its own unique subject, a central theme runs through all of his works: the way knowledge producers and disseminators—scientists, researchers, and journalists—use visual material, how data changes during the process (e.g., superficial treatment or alignment with investors’ interests), and the impact achieved through their visual language. Credibility and authority are primary concerns.
Vardarman roughly categorizes his visual material into two groups: the highly graphic visual language used by scientists (charts, diagrams, etc.), and photomontages created using photostorytelling and composition techniques commonly found in mass media, particularly magazines.
In his photographic works, Vardarman employs striking disaster landscapes and news photographs, producing them with a painterly approach. Each work is a photomontage composed of approximately 20 smaller photographs, sourced from television news and documentaries.
Referencing the Romantic period, Vardarman creates impactful disaster landscapes. In the TV-Landscapes series, he utilizes a visual archive of roughly 70,000 photographs compiled from television, combining small images into photomontages. Each work typically consists of around 20 images, but sometimes more than 100, and incorporates digital painting techniques.
Sencer Vardarman’s exhibition “Virtual News” opens on Friday, April 13 at art ON the Gallery and will be on view until May 13.