Art On İstanbul is delighted to present Mithat Şen’s first solo exhibition in Istanbul after six years, “İstif”, at its new Tepebaşı space. The exhibition brings together the artist’s new works with previously unseen pieces from the “İstif” series, alongside a site-specific installation titled “On the Star System”, created exclusively for the gallery space. The exhibition is on view at Art On İstanbul’s Hanifi Building from March 18 to April 30, 2017.
İstif encompasses the body as seen in Mithat Şen’s early works, sometimes fragmented, sometimes whole, on canvas or stretched leathers, positioning it within a composition focused on writing. Departing from conventional arrangements, İstif organizes letters according to a dynamic interplay of positive and negative space and the part-whole relationship, creating a system that not only diversifies form but also marks the stages through which the units reach a whole.
The 13 units employed in Şen’s paintings function as a kind of alphabet of the body, arranged to allow infinite readings, akin to patterns found in nature.
In his poem Açık, Behçet Necatigil offers a key insight into traditional approaches to form: “Build a new shelter, using the same stones.” In Şen’s painting, a similar act of construction is evident. The stones he uses are remnants of a heritage filtered through centuries—forgotten, abandoned fragments. From gravestones to carpet motifs, from daily schedules to textual arrangements, these fragments express a shared sensibility.
The newly constructed shelter, like the poem, neutralizes any imposed meaning, revealing the abstract and mystical. Here, the artwork embodies a duality: in terms of space, it has the finite density of the earth; in terms of time, it opens into the infinite void of the sky.