Antique Romance, Pi Artworks, Istanbul, 2016

Pi Artworks Istanbul is proud to host Paris-based artist Maude Maris’ first solo exhibition in Turkey. The artist’s work had been exhibited this year at Ville de Thonon-les-Bains (solo) and VOG Fontaine (solo); and last year at Pi Artworks London, the gallery’s Contemporary Istanbul booth, and Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rennes. 

Antique Romance consists of a considered and minimal selection of paintings and sculptures that showcase the two main sides of Maris’ practice. These new semi-abstract compositions combine in unusual ways references to objects and architecture from both ancient cultures and contemporary civilizations. Recurrent within the exhibition are references to the transformed remnants of ancient civilisations: The gigantic sculptures of Mount Nemrut, Turkey, the belongings of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, and the artefacts of the Istanbul Archaeology Museum.

Maris investigates the role -as protector- and spiritual meaning of ancient sculptures depicting animalistic figures, particularly large scale ones placed on and around buildings. Particular attention is given to how the form of these sculptures has changed over time. Her work references both historical sculptures such as those depicting Big Jerry, Big Horus and Big Io, alongside creatures of her own creation.

Maris’ works are described as the architecture of emotion. She builds emotions instead of physical constructions; she creates passages between the objects and figures, the past and today.

To capture the three-dimensionality of her subjects, she often creates sculptures to model her paintings on. In Antique Romance the sculptures are presented together with her paintings to form a broader installation.