"Origins" is a compelling group exhibition that brings together a diverse and dynamic roster of contemporary artists: Thannyo Edwin De Freitas, Selda Güneş, Mateo, Lorenzo Quinn, Kadir Akyol, Eda Baysal, and Çağlar Tağcı. Each artist contributes a distinct voice and vision, yet all are united in their exploration of a central, deeply resonant theme: the concept of “origin.”
This theme is unpacked through multiple lenses, cultural, spiritual, personal, and universal, and expressed through a variety of mediums, styles, and narratives. In Origins, the notion of “beginning” is not limited to a singular, chronological moment. Instead, it is treated as a multifaceted concept: a genesis point, a recurring motif, and a persistent thread weaving together the past, present, and imagined future.
Whether it’s the emotive symbolism in Lorenzo Quinn’s sculptures that speak to human connection and transformation, the autobiographical layers in Mateo Humano’s work, or the cultural storytelling embedded in Selda Güneş’s and Kadir Akyol’s visual language, each piece invites the viewer to contemplate where we come from, and how that continues to shape who we are.
In Eda Baysal’s and Çağlar Tağcı’s contributions, we witness origin stories told through abstraction, texture, and space, an invitation to feel rather than define beginnings. Meanwhile, Thannyo Edwin De Freitas delves into collective identity and ancestral memory, presenting origin as something inherited and constantly evolving.
Collectively, Origins is more than an exhibition; it is a reflective journey. It challenges the viewer to reconsider linear understandings of time and identity, and to embrace origin as a living dialogue, a space where tradition and innovation, memory and imagination, intersect and coalesce.
In a world where questions of identity, belonging, and history are more urgent than ever, Origins offers a timely and thoughtful meditation on where we come from and how those roots continue to shape our creative, social, and emotional landscapes.
