Gulsun Karamustafa

Istanbul, Tarik Zafer Tunaya Kultur Merkezi, Chronographia, 1994, illustration of another example in colour (now destroyed)

Barbara Heinrich, Gulsun Karamustafa: Gullerim Tahayyullerim, My Roses My Reveries, Istanbul 2007, p. 63, illustration of another example in colour
Levent Calikoglu, Cagdas Sanat Konusmalari 3: 90'li Yillarda Turkiye'de Çagdas Sanat: "Gulsun Karamustafa: 9 Ocak 2007", Istanbul 2008, p. 75, illustration of another example in colour

Colour: The colours in the catalogue are fairly accurate. Condition: This work is in excellent condition. Please note that because the original magazine covers have been used, certain issues have minor tears to their left border. Issue 118 shows minor colour loss and a very light tear to the left. Issue 181 has a small tear to the bottom left corner. Issue 77 has loose backing. Note: the frames are of golden-coloured cardboard.
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Follwing the coup d'état of 1971 the artist Gulsun Karamustafa was briefly imprisoned by the new regime. This event would mark the beginning of an important stage in her career. As her numerous applications for a passport were denied, Karamustafa found herself seeking inspiration from within the city where she was effectively bound.

As a result, Karamustafa focused her efforts on attempting to represent something as elusive as the collective spirit of her generation. During this time, which she describes as "the lonely Great War of [her] artistic career" (the artist interviewed by Erden Kosova, in: Christian Kravagna, Ed., Routes, Austria 2006) when she was starved of outside stimuli, Karamustafa worked hard to establish an original style of painting. By the late 1980s, she was already recognized as a successful painter and her extraordinary versatility led her to experiment with new media and techniques despite her artistic isolation. Her dedication to collective memory found a stimulating and suitable medium in her own personal belongings.

The present work is part of the artist's effort to reincarnate her childhood experiences in Istanbul. At a time when radio was the most popular medium of communication, the voices of radio-celebrities penetrated every home, broadcasting Istanbul's energetic social life. These disjointed voices came to be the epitome of chic.

The images presented in Chronographia—like the shape in which they are arranged—can be analysed from several view-points. The installation depicts the title pages of sixty issues of Radyo Haftasi (Radio Week) all published between 1950 and 1953. These, placed in gold frames and arranged to form a large circle, are the embodiment of the intangible voices of early Turkish radio. The glamour of these personalities, their clothes, make-up and hair, became the envy of Turkey's young girls; the icons of their mothers.

It is a tribute to a time when women were liberated and when Turkey's people were liberated, a stark contrast to her situation in the 1970s. In essence, Chronographia is Karamustafa's eulogy to that past world. It is also a homage to her father, an important contributor to Radyo Haftasi. Each of the issues included in the installation contained an article written by him.

Chronographia is an outstanding work by one of Turkey's leading conceptual artists, and is a beautifully constructed emblem of Turkey's past.