DIS(THIS)APPEARANCE

PRESS RELEASE

CLUBHOUSE BEBEK in collaboration with ISTANBUL’74 present dis(This)appearance — an exhibition where time, memory, and transformation converge through the work of Arslan Sükan.

Sükan revives 19th-century archival photographs (1890-1920), bringing back photographs once distorted by chemical decay. What seemed lost to time is reawakened, allowing fragments of the past to echo into the present. By reclaiming these photographs, Sükan orchestrates a visual resurrection, where the past’s fleeting memories gain permanence, challenging the fragility of collective memory. His works serve as vessels for historical continuity, ensuring that these moments do not vanish into obscurity but instead live on through a shared experience with the viewer. Each photograph becomes a portal where past lives and stories intersect with our present consciousness, urging us to reflect on the persistence of memory and its role in shaping our identities.

In dis(This)appearance, the tension between deterioration and restoration mirrors the impermanence of life. Sükan’s work ensures that these forgotten photographs do not vanish into obscurity but continue to live on, preserving public memory and inviting a shared journey through time. Here, the past and present merge to form new narratives, where presence and absence, decay and revival, coexist in a delicate balance.

ABOUT ARTIST

Arslan Sükan is a multi-faceted artist who is trained in interior architecture and photography and has tackled ideas that question the limitations of human perception, the borders between the physical and the virtual as well as the visible and the invisible. Sükan’s work positions the artist as a challenging narrator who re-creates an idea or a form that confirms viewer expectations at first glance while undercutting them in practice.

Born in 1973 (Ankara, Turkey), Sükan’s work have been exhibited at the Maison des Metallos (Paris, France, 2009), NYPH New Visionaries Tobacco Factory (New York, USA, 2009), Batagianni Gallery (Athens, Greece, 2011), Kappatos Gallery (Athens, Greece, 2012), Ara Art Center (Seoul, South Korea, 2012), Maxxi Museum (Rome, Italy, 2013), Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art (Istanbul, Turkey, 2013), Museum Haus Konstruktiv (Zurich, Switzerland, 2013), La Triennale Di Milano (Italy, 2014), Five Eleven (NYC, USA, 2015), Hotel Des Arts (Toulon, France, 2016), Istanbul Modern Museum (Turkey, 2017) as well as art fairs such as Art Basel (Switzerland, 2011), FIAC (Paris, France, 2011) Art Hong Kong 2012 and 2013. Sükan lives and works in New York and Istanbul.