Mehmet Guleryuz

Collection of the Artist

Istanbul, Yapi Kredi Kazim Taskent Sanat Galerisi, Mehmet Guleryuz, Oradan Oraya, From Somewhere to Somewhere Else, 2007-08, pp. 6 & 40-43, illustrated in colour

Nan Freeman, Mehmet Guleryuz, Istanbul 2008, p. 299, illustrated in colour

Colour: The colours in the catalogue are accurate. Condition: This work is in good condition. There are 4.5cm. chips and losses to the right hand foot of the crate. There is minor paint loss to the left hand knuckle of the monkey. There are slight wear and rubbing marks on the extremities in particular to the monkey's arms, elbow, revealing the white cast polyster.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Mehmet Guleryuz is widely considered one of the leading lights of the Turkish modernist movement. Beginning his training in Istanbul under Zeki Faik Izer, whose work is also featured in this sale, lot 61, he later moved to Paris where he engaged with the contemporary art scene of the 1970s. At this time the conceptual movement was in full swing, a movement that emphasised the artistic idea over and above the representation of the object or indeed the object itself.

Guleryuz believed that he had a profound responsibility to comment on the social and political conditions of his time. This belief in the artist's role as activist took on greater proportions as he lived through the deterioration of the Vietnamese peace talks in the early 1970s, the general social unrest in Europe and watched from afar as yet another coup d'état took place in his homeland on the 12^th of March in 1971. With the innate sensitivities of the artist, Guleryuz observed and analyzed the pressures of his existence at this time of flux, and expressed it through his art and sculpture.

In this iconic representation of a deformed and crated monkey, Guleryuz expresses notions of hopelessness and subjugation with a touching sensitivity and tenderness. The first Crated Monkey was conceived in 1974, as Guleryuz, strolling along Marché Daguerre, was inspired by something as mundane as a packing crate. In time the artist developed the crate into a prison, trapping a grotesque papier mâché monkey within it.  In the time-honoured fashion of symbolically replacing man with beast, the artist criticizes the suppression and restraint of an intrusive political system. The sculpture is a powerful protest.

This original Crated Monkey was destroyed, to be re-conceived by the artist on a monumental scale in 2007. Touched by the current global political situation, Mehmet Guleryuz felt compelled to revive the concept and the protest. On the one hand intimidating, on the other unbelievably poignant with its four-fingered right hand, missing legs and slumped shoulders, the monkey simultaneously inspires both awe and melancholy. Monstrous in size, volume and appearance, the new Crated Monkey never fails to shock, and remains a powerful tribute to the suppressed and the ostracised.

The Crated Monkey is one of Mehmet Guleryuz's most iconic sculptures, combining his political stance and conceptual drive with his skills as an artist.