Turkish filmmaker and artist Kutluğ Ataman has been invited to exhibit the video installation titled “THE PORTRAIT OF SAKIP SABANCI” at the 56th International Art Exhibition of la Biennale di Venezia (Venice Biennale). The work will be shown alongside the 136 artists selected by curator Okwui Enwezor for this year’s exhibition titled ‘All the World’s Futures’.

”THE PORTRAIT OF SAKIP SABANCI” was commissioned by Istanbul’s Sabancı University Sakıp Sabancı Museum in 2011, to mark the 10-year anniversary of the Turkish business leader and philanthropist Mr. Sakıp Sabancı’s passing. The multi-image installation which took almost 3 years to complete, is formed of approximately 10,000 LCD panels – each one a portrait of one of the tens of thousands of people from all walks of life– who crossed paths with Mr. Sabancı. These are people who he supported and those who worked with him.  

Kutluğ Ataman, born in Istanbul in 1961, is an artist whose main medium of expression is the moving image. Ataman’s works have been exhibited at international art events including the Venice Biennale and Documenta in Germany as well as major museums including MoMa in New York, Tate Britain in London, and Guggenheim Bilbao. He received the Carnegie Prize in Pittsburgh in 2004, was among the four finalists for the Turner Prize and was awarded the Abraaj Capital Art Prize in 2009. Ataman was the joint winner of the European Cultural Foundation’s Routes Princess Margriet Award and was named artist of the year by The Observer newspaper in the United Kingdom. His works are included in such private and institutional collections as MoMA in New York, Tate Modern in London, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Vienna, the Dimitris Daskalopoulos Collection in Athens and Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh.

Preview: 7 May 2015, 12.30

Opening: 9 May 2015

Exhibition address: Artiglierie, Arsenale, Castello, 30122 Venezia

Opening hours: 10.00- 18.00 (10.00– 20.00: Friday/Saturday until 26 September). Closed on Mondays (except 11 May/1 June/16 November)

Notes to Editors:

The S.U. Sakıp Sabancı Museum is located in the Emirgan district, İstanbul. The 19th-century mansion was purchased in 1951 by industrialist Hacı Ömer Sabancı. In 1998, together with its collections of The Arts of Book and Calligraphy and Turkish Painting from the Ottoman Reformation to the Republic, the mansion was allocated to Sabancı University to be transformed into a museum. With the annex of a modern gallery, the exhibition spaces of the museum opened to visitors in 2002, with a further extension of the layout in 2005. Today, Sakıp Sabancı Museum presents a rich permanent collection, a series of temporary exhibitions and public events. The museum regularly hosts notable special exhibitions, often focusing on the works of one artist, movement or historical period that have been loaned out from a variety of other museums and sources. Each exhibition at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum aims to provide insight into the world of art as a transformative, cultural experience, and often involves a historical analysis to demonstrate the profound impact that art has on society. S.U. Sakıp Sabancı Museum also boasts a wide variety of educational programming for children and adults along with workshops, conferences and concerts throughout the year. For more for information of S.U. Sakıp Sabancı Museum visit http://www.sakipsabancimuzesi.org/en