O’Art Launches Its First Online Exhibition “NOW 2021” for Art Enthusiasts​

O’Art, Odeabank’s art platform, is gearing up to present an online exhibition featuring artworks by 15 artists, many of which were created during the pandemic. ŞİMDİ 2021 (NOW 2021), an exhibition interpreting contemporary reality through the eyes of artists, will be available online on the Odeabank website until the end of March. With 30 works by 15 artists, the exhibition covers multiple disciplines, including painting, sculpture, drawing, digital modeling, installation, and ready-made object interventions.

O’Art, the art platform of Odeabank, is presenting its first exhibition of the new year, “NOW 2021,” digitally to art enthusiasts during this period of limited physical interaction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Featuring 30 works by 15 artists, “NOW 2021” represents O’Art’s inaugural digital exhibition blending physical space with the virtual environment. Digitalization, one of the main new habits gained during the pandemic, is not about glorifying being apart; it opens a realistic doorway from a two-dimensional screen into a three-dimensional space.

In “NOW 2021,” art enthusiasts will see how the artists’ emotional and intellectual perspectives have been affected by the “new reality” resulting from the surreal experiences of the global pandemic. In their works, the artists convey this new reality they have had to adapt to, along with its inherent contradictions, through diverse moods and thought processes. This is because the work of every artist who bears witness to the flow of time today, and consequently every relationship they establish, is always intrinsically connected to the “now.”

Commenting on the exhibition, curator Begüm Güney Alkoçlar remarked: “Every relationship established by every artist who bears witness to the flow of time is always intrinsically connected to the ’now.’ Ever since art was established on intellectual principles, artists have strived to find different means of self-expression. The exhibition, assembled with a curated selection under challenging conditions, explores this pursuit by questioning the impossibility of new creation in contemporary art while celebrating white as a symbol of the creative quest. The conscious reduction to a single color tone in this curated selection subtly critiques the persistent effort to achieve something new in the traumatic circumstances of the “new normal.”

Showcasing works by Berkay Tuncay, Eda Aslan, Eda Gecikmez, Egemen Tuncer, Erman Gürcüm, Levent Kazgan, Mehmet Dere, Nejat Çınar, Özge Topçu, Sibel Horada, Sinan Borovalı, Soyhan Baltacı, T. Talha Okan, Taylan Sinan Yılmaz, and Zeynep Sümerval, the exhibition delves into the interplay between evolving conditions, adaptation to new norms, and the essence of creativity.

Starting February 9, 2021, the “NOW 2021” exhibition will be accessible 24/7 on the Odeabank website at www.odeabank.com.tr/hakkimizda/oart/simdi-2021.