Artissima 2023

For Artissima 2023, Esther Schipper is delighted to present a solo presentation by Cemile Sahin, entitled Simple Things. 

A point of departure for Cemile Sahin’s Simple Things is her ongoing research into the history of classifications applied to criminals and those criminalized by society. Phrenology, with its efforts to find in the face markers of intelligence, character, deviance, and racialized identifying features, reached a pseudo-scientific hype in the early decades of the 19thcentury and its application by state agencies became increasingly normalized in the early 20th century. Part of a larger effort to classify, the aim was not only to regulate an increasingly unruly population but to identify potential dangers to society from individuals (and classes).

While the artist’s upcoming large-scale installation at the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart examines this history to extrapolate into the future of mechanisms of surveillance, the presentation developed for Artissima draws on this research but looks at a different, even antithetical aspect: the glorification of crime.

Sahin’s Simple Things examines the representation and self-presentation of a generalized villain, taking as a model the aggrandizement of fictional criminals in contemporary social media channels, among them for example characters from movies such as The Godfather (1972), Scarface (1983) or Blood In, Blood Out (1993). Sahin’s use of imagery and her formal vocabulary are inspired by these social media pages which often feature stills, quotations, and short movie clips. She conjures up an entire body of imagery that spectacularizes fictional outlaws, even emulating the way they are sometimes presented as inspirational figures on these pages.

The images on the wallpaper, which provide the setting for wall-mounted sculptures and a video, are based on this iconography developed by Sahin. They are merged scenarios of mug shots and various police chases taken from public surveillance cameras, which the artist described to an AI image generator, prompting it to depict the scenes in the style of a cartoon action. A red sports car, a Ferrari 488, represents conspicuous consumption and the spoils of luxury gained through a life of crime.

The panels pick up the imagery as well, paired with short text passages. The images are printed directly only fluorescent blue acrylic panels employing a UV printing technique, while their outline refers to the heart-shaped like buttons found on Instagram.

The ca. 2-minute looped video work combines text and imagery from all sources for this project: mugshots, surveillance shots, car chases, stills and quotes from popular movies, as well as the imagery the artist had the AI generate.

The title “Simple Things” is inspired by the style of pithy inspirational quotes from such gangster movies floating around on Instagram. These simplifications suggest that life is simple, and the brevity of these phrases wants you to know that short answers work best. Of course, the faster the answer to your life comes, the more popular the sentence will be on social media. 

If you wish to receive a preview dossier, or should you have any questions about our presentation at Artissima 2023, please contact Giulia Gelmini: gelmini@estherschipper.com

Artissima 2023

Booth PF 10

via Giacomo Mattè Trucco, 70
Turin

November 3 - 5, 2023 

www.artissima.art

VIP Preview: November 2