Organized in collaboration between Art On İstanbul and the Sezer Tansuğ Art Foundation, the exhibition 99 Square completes Sezer Tansuğ’s project “The Values of the Republic”, which he began in 1993. Featuring works by 97 artists, the exhibition can be visited at Art On İstanbul between November 1 – December 29.
99 Square revisits a project originally planned by Sezer Tansuğ in 1993 but left unfinished, now brought to life with contemporary contributions. Within the scope of the project, Tansuğ paired artists with prominent figures who had contributed to the fields of culture, art, and science during the Republican era, and commissioned each artist to produce a work within the 40 x 40 cm format. However, due to Tansuğ’s illness and later passing, the project was left incomplete. Remaining faithful to Tansuğ’s original framework, the exhibition is structured in three parts: artists who delivered their works in 1993, artists listed in Tansuğ’s archive but who did not submit works, and contemporary artists invited by the gallery.
Within the exhibition, 35 works produced in 1993 and delivered to Tansuğ have been loaned by the Foundation for display, with restoration processes carried out by the gallery. By presenting these pieces alongside new productions, the exhibition unites the spirit of different times under a single roof.
99 Square aims both to commemorate art criticism through the legacy of a prominent critic like Sezer Tansuğ and to recall the figures and works that have contributed to the cultural landscape of the Republic. Bringing together diverse ways of seeing and allowing viewers to experience the interrelations between works, this rich selection offers a comparative perspective on artists’ approaches to abstraction. A book prepared for the exhibition will stand as a lasting document in art history, featuring an extensive introductory essay by Hilmi Yavuz and individual texts by Evrim Altuğ written for each work.
