Galeri Nev which hosted almost 200 solo exhibitions over 40 years, will remain loyal to its traditions. The section dedicated to Mehtap Baydu turned into a compelling solo exhibition that brought together the artist’s iconic works with her most recent creations. For those encountering Baydu for the first time, the exhibition offered a representative selection spanning a broad range of time and materials. Meanwhile, viewers already familiar with her practice were able to trace the consistency and persistence in her work through the dialogue between old and new pieces.
Baydu, who can be seen as a devoted archaeologist excavating her own skin, revealed multiple layered contradictions in this exhibition—between being a woman or not; being a child or a mother; or being young versus transforming into a mythical goddess.
The single piece by Nermin Kura presented alongside Baydu’s works—a ceramic vase in the form of a wild hermaphrodite flower—became a striking symbol that echoed all of these profound contradictions.
