Guler Ates, Within and Without, 2020
Archival Pigment Print, 60 x 48cm, edition of 5
Turkish-born artist Güler Ates works in a variety of media including video, photography, printmaking and site-responsive performance. Her evocative images merge Eastern and Western sensibilities to explore, in her words, ‘the experience of cultural displacement’.
Güler works with models draped in richly-coloured veils throughout her artistic practice. These mysterious figures are often photographed as if quietly passing through architecturally lavish interiors, in locations chosen for their links to colonialism and ‘the East’. Güler’s imagery also references European traditions of veiled woman as seen in the paintings of old masters such as Vermeer and Rembrandt. These comparisons, for the artist, ‘highlight social and political issues, especially those surrounding gender politics and the veil’.
‘Within and Without’ is one of a series of limited edition prints made during an artistic residency in Rajasthan; the location for this image was the City Palace in Udaipur. The rich colour of the theatrical veil relates to the intrinsic role that colour plays in India, from coloured cities such as blue Jodphur, to the extensive dyes and pigments produced across the country. Victoria and Albert Museum curator Josephine Rout says; ‘Textiles were central commodities traded between India and Europe. That these vibrantly-coloured silks and cottons were then sold to female consumers only functioned to further define 'the East' as feminine. But while these were novelty items in Europe, Güler re-contextualises them by situating them back within the Indian interior.’
Güler moved from Turkey to London in 1998, studying first at Lewisham College and then moving on to a BA in Painting at Wimbledon School of Art. She subsequently graduated with an MA in Fine Art from the Royal College of Art in 2008. Her work has been exhibited widely in the UK and internationally including solo exhibitions in Washington DC, Mumbai, Turin, Amsterdam, Napoli, Porto, Okinawa and London. Güler has been awarded numerous prizes for her work including the Arts Council England Project Award in 2020. Her work is also held in notable collections including the Royal Collection, Turin, Italy, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and the Government Arts Collection, UK.
Archival Pigment Print, 60 x 48cm, edition of 5
Turkish-born artist Güler Ates works in a variety of media including video, photography, printmaking and site-responsive performance. Her evocative images merge Eastern and Western sensibilities to explore, in her words, ‘the experience of cultural displacement’.
Güler works with models draped in richly-coloured veils throughout her artistic practice. These mysterious figures are often photographed as if quietly passing through architecturally lavish interiors, in locations chosen for their links to colonialism and ‘the East’. Güler’s imagery also references European traditions of veiled woman as seen in the paintings of old masters such as Vermeer and Rembrandt. These comparisons, for the artist, ‘highlight social and political issues, especially those surrounding gender politics and the veil’.
‘Within and Without’ is one of a series of limited edition prints made during an artistic residency in Rajasthan; the location for this image was the City Palace in Udaipur. The rich colour of the theatrical veil relates to the intrinsic role that colour plays in India, from coloured cities such as blue Jodphur, to the extensive dyes and pigments produced across the country. Victoria and Albert Museum curator Josephine Rout says; ‘Textiles were central commodities traded between India and Europe. That these vibrantly-coloured silks and cottons were then sold to female consumers only functioned to further define 'the East' as feminine. But while these were novelty items in Europe, Güler re-contextualises them by situating them back within the Indian interior.’
Güler moved from Turkey to London in 1998, studying first at Lewisham College and then moving on to a BA in Painting at Wimbledon School of Art. She subsequently graduated with an MA in Fine Art from the Royal College of Art in 2008. Her work has been exhibited widely in the UK and internationally including solo exhibitions in Washington DC, Mumbai, Turin, Amsterdam, Napoli, Porto, Okinawa and London. Güler has been awarded numerous prizes for her work including the Arts Council England Project Award in 2020. Her work is also held in notable collections including the Royal Collection, Turin, Italy, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and the Government Arts Collection, UK.
Archival Pigment Print, 60 x 48cm, edition of 5
Turkish-born artist Güler Ates works in a variety of media including video, photography, printmaking and site-responsive performance. Her evocative images merge Eastern and Western sensibilities to explore, in her words, ‘the experience of cultural displacement’.
Güler works with models draped in richly-coloured veils throughout her artistic practice. These mysterious figures are often photographed as if quietly passing through architecturally lavish interiors, in locations chosen for their links to colonialism and ‘the East’. Güler’s imagery also references European traditions of veiled woman as seen in the paintings of old masters such as Vermeer and Rembrandt. These comparisons, for the artist, ‘highlight social and political issues, especially those surrounding gender politics and the veil’.
‘Within and Without’ is one of a series of limited edition prints made during an artistic residency in Rajasthan; the location for this image was the City Palace in Udaipur. The rich colour of the theatrical veil relates to the intrinsic role that colour plays in India, from coloured cities such as blue Jodphur, to the extensive dyes and pigments produced across the country. Victoria and Albert Museum curator Josephine Rout says; ‘Textiles were central commodities traded between India and Europe. That these vibrantly-coloured silks and cottons were then sold to female consumers only functioned to further define 'the East' as feminine. But while these were novelty items in Europe, Güler re-contextualises them by situating them back within the Indian interior.’
Güler moved from Turkey to London in 1998, studying first at Lewisham College and then moving on to a BA in Painting at Wimbledon School of Art. She subsequently graduated with an MA in Fine Art from the Royal College of Art in 2008. Her work has been exhibited widely in the UK and internationally including solo exhibitions in Washington DC, Mumbai, Turin, Amsterdam, Napoli, Porto, Okinawa and London. Güler has been awarded numerous prizes for her work including the Arts Council England Project Award in 2020. Her work is also held in notable collections including the Royal Collection, Turin, Italy, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and the Government Arts Collection, UK.
