From Crest to Coast, a Seamless Panorama: “Under the Same Blue” at Istanbul Modern

Unfolding from the fourth floor of Istanbul Modern and cascading down through its public zones, foyers, and library, the museum’s new collection exhibition, “Under the Same Blue,” prompts an immediate multi-level mental journey the moment you step inside. Curated by Çelenk Bafra and Deniz Pehlivaner, this 10th collection presentation gathers art practices in Turkey from the 1940s to the present, eschewing a rigid timeline in favor of a timeless frame anchored by the concept of “blue.”

Wandering through the Dr. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı Collection Exhibition Hall, one can easily lose oneself among 230 works by 119 artists. The exhibition progresses along two main axes: a historical trajectory charting abstract and figurative pursuits from the 1940s through the 2000s on one side, and post-2000 productions grouped under four thematic umbrellas—”War, Destruction, Displacement,” “Nature, Motif, Transformation,” “Representation, Narrative, Tradition,” and “City, Space, Stratum”—on the other.

The exhibition’s most compelling moments stem from encounters with 43 newly acquired works on public display for the first time. Pieces brought into the museum with the support of the Women Artists Fund—including Fatoş İrwen’s Rosa, Yaşam Şaşmazer’s sculpture Taming the Darkness, Aslı Çavuşoğlu’s ANNEX, Candeğer Furtun’s Applause, and Burçak Bingöl’s Hatayi—substantially deepen the gallery’s layer of memory. Meanwhile, a photographic selection drawn from the lenses of Yıldız Moran, Ara Güler, Ersin Alok, and Sedat Pakay documents the evolving trajectory of Turkey’s visual history.

Discoveries extend beyond the formal gallery spaces into the museum’s circulation areas. Liam Gillick’s installation Applied Hydrodynamica takes position on the sea-facing facade, while Claudia Pagès Rabal’s Five Watchtowers anchors the cinema foyer, and works by Halil Altındere and Serkan Özkaya integrate directly into the library. Under the Same Blue delivers a collection route in total harmony with the museum’s architecture, offering a lucid testament to how Istanbul Modern reads the past and experiences the present.