A new exhibition at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum: "MACK. Only Light and Colour" opens on 18 February. The museum presents more than 100 works from the long, prolific 60-year career of Heinz Mack, a pioneer of German modernism…
A new exhibition at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum: “MACK. Only Light and Colour” opens on 18 February. The Sakıp Sabancı Museum is preparing to host more than 100 works spanning the long and prolific 60-year career of Heinz Mack, a pioneer of German modernism.
Opening to visitors on 18 February 2016 at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum (SSM) under the main sponsorship of Tahincioğlu, “MACK. Only Light and Colour” brings together the works of the German artist Heinz Mack, a founder of the mid-20th-century avant-garde network ZERO. Starting from the early works that formed the backbone of the ZERO movement, the exhibition presents a rich selection of paintings, sculptures and kinetic works produced over his long, prolific career.
Among the works on show are installations Mack designed for open spaces by tracing colours and forms in nature, monumental sculptures made from various materials, light objects, rotors, reliefs and the large-scale paintings he called “Chromatic Constellations”. For the exhibition, a significant part of the SSM galleries was transformed into a unique experiential space uniting nature and art, inspired by the Land Art works with which Mack, from the 1960s onward, turned pristine natural areas into spaces devoted to art. The SSM exhibition space was shaped around the themes of desert and light, in line with the artist's 1960s expeditions to the Sahara Desert and the Arctic.
Curated by SSM Director Dr. Nazan Ölçer and art historian Sir Norman Rosenthal, former Exhibitions Director of the Royal Academy of Arts, London, the exhibition also crowns the artist's 85th year and the 60th year of his career with a series of exhibitions across the Far East, Europe and Turkey. “MACK. Only Light and Colour” meets art lovers in the SSM galleries from 18 February 2016, with the support of Tahincioğlu.
The exhibition was realised under the high patronage of the German Foreign Minister Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who also contributed a foreword to the catalogue. In his text, Steinmeier expressed his pleasure that the SSM — with a programme that began in 2015 with “ZERO. Countdown to the Future” and continued in 2016 with “MACK. Only Light and Colour” — brings art movements and artists followed by the international art world together with Turkey. Emphasising the importance of international dialogue in developing a shared “global mind”, he described Mack and his art thus: “Heinz Mack strives to create points of contact, aiming to invite people into dialogue, to understand and to think. Mack and his art symbolise this very ‘global mind’.”
SSM Director Dr. Nazan Ölçer noted that the exhibition focuses on the light and colour that captivated Mack throughout his career, bringing together his paintings reflecting the Mediterranean sun and the kinetic works involving the “movement” he never abandoned. “We are delighted to bring this wise artist together with art lovers through his long career and uniquely rich output,” she said. “While hosting this important master of German modernism with a comprehensive exhibition in the 60th year of his career, we are also greatly excited that this encounter takes place in our country — on an axis where the East–West civilisations that have always held a special place in his art have flowed throughout history.”
Özcan Tahincioğlu, Chairman of Tahincioğlu Holding, the main sponsor, said: “Art is an indispensable value for a society to progress and broaden its vision. As Tahincioğlu, we attach importance to standing by art and the artist; while supporting art projects, we also see the projects we realise as works of art in themselves. As a real-estate company, we believe the projects we sign contribute to the architecture of the city. We are therefore delighted to be the main sponsor of the Heinz Mack exhibition, which will enrich and beautify the city throughout its run. In the light of our vision, our support for art and the artist will continue in other projects too.”
Heinz Mack's first solo exhibition in İstanbul — a city endowed for thousands of years with the priceless heritage of Eastern and Western civilisations — is accompanied by a rich education programme and workshops, as well as a comprehensive exhibition catalogue.