Dua: Two Exhibitions by Peter Hristoff
September 20, 2005 | Elif SUNGUR
New York based artist Peter Hristoff will exhibit ten rugs at the museum of Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey, opening Monday, September 19 at 6PM. The rugs are based on drawings the artist has been working on since 1997 and combine his signature motifs (cosmological, floral. figurative and geometric) with the traditional structure of Anatolian carpets (halis). These works symbolize the spiritual search inherent in human nature, regardless of religious orientation.
The artist states: "My interest in rugs halis and kilims was a natural connection to the journal-like quality of my work. I am fascinated by the diarist element in traditional Turkish rug making-the weaver incorporating events, personal beliefs, hopes and desires with regional (traditional) symbols into the carpets-an approach I, too, have been taking to my art making. The seccade (prayer rug) is an object of sacred ritual, of contemplation and of decoration. In many ways, paintings function as seccade's for me, providing a separate place to contemplate - a place of isolation. The prayer rug creates a sacred space where ever it is placed: an object charged with hope and with spiritual connections, as well as its physical relationship to the body and to geography. The ritual of placement, of prayer, of absolution all tap into issues I have been addressing in my work since the early 1980s. The opportunity to exhibit at Hagia Sophia provides me the perfect venue to present this aspect of my work. The monument's history as the greatest of Byzantine churches, and subsequently as a mosque, makes it an ideal site to display works dealing with the notion of prayer and the act of praying. Interestingly, an exhibition at the Museum of Hagia Sophia is one more way that I am returning "home" to Turkey. I was born in Istanbul and left Turkey when I was five years old. My paternal grandfather (also an artist) had immigrated to Istanbul in 1926 from Bulgaria and was a close friend of Ali Sami Boyar, the first director of the museum; they worked together on the first stamps and currency of the young Turkish republic. Boyar was also a friend and mentor to my father during the years that he studied at the Istanbul Academy of Fine Arts (now Mimar Sinan University). Exhibiting at Hagia Sophia connects me to this legacy. Despite the emigration of the family, a tradition of painting that references the homeland prevails."
The exhibition will be supplemented with photographs, prints, books and memorabilia from the Hristoff family archives relating to the history of the Hagia Sophia Museum. Hristoff will simultaneously exhibit (opening September 22) paintings and drawings at C.A.M.Gallery, Istanbul. These works explore the human dilemma of spirituality in conflict with base desires as well as emotional conflicts such as joy vs. fear, hope vs. despair. A fully illustrated catalog including works from both exhibitions with essays by art historian/critic Monroe Denton and artist/writer Michael Bennett will be available.
For more information, please visit http://www.moonandstarsproject.org
About Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia, considered to be the greatest of Byzantine structures existing in the world, was first built in 360 AD during the reign of Constantine and then again 415. Destroyed by the Nike rebellion in 532, it was reconstructed by the emperor Justinian and completed in 537. After the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the church was turned into a mosque. Over the centuries, the building has been damaged by both political and natural calamities, yet has endured as a monument to human artistic achievement and as the most majestic temple ever built. In 1934, Hagia Sophia was made a museum.
About Peter Hristoff
Peter Hristoff was born in Istanbul in 1958, and emigrated to the United States with his family in 1963. He is a recipient of the Joan Mitchell Award in Painting and the New York Foundation for the Arts Award in Drawing/Printmaking.
He is currently a faculty member of the School of Visual Arts, NY. In January of 2005, Hristoff curated "Iznik: Legendary Ceramics of Turkey" at the Visual Arts Gallery of New York. He is currently working on a series of paintings that explore the nature of belief.
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