ART CITIES:Istanbul- Jake & Dinos Chapman

Jake and Dinos Chapman, Archival Work, 1971–2013 and KKK mannequins, 79 mixed media on paper Dimensions variable, Installation shot from Come and See, 2014, DHC/ART Foundation for Contemporary Art-Montreal, © Jake and Dinos Chapman, Photo: Richard-Max Tremblay, Courtesy of DHC/ART Foundation for Contemporary Art Working together since their graduation from the Royal College of Art in 1990, Jake and Dinos Chapman often combine scenes of violence with absurd or humorous elements in their work. The artists deliver powerful statements on society, politics and religion. Deeply engaged in contemporary issues of morality, the Chapman brothers are intent on putting the viewer in a state of complete moral panic.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: ARTER Archive

For “In the Realm of the Senseless” their first solo exhibition in Turkey Jake & Dinos Chapman present at Arter a number of works from their iconic series including “Hell”, “The Chapman Family Collection” and “One Day You Will No Longer Be Loved”, alongside new and rarely seen works. The exhibition presents an overview of the Chapmans’ virulently pessimistic art and thought. Deploying humor and a perverse semiotics to undercut and satirize many of the unthinking beliefs that animate contemporary culture, the Chapmans’ is amongst the most challenging of contemporary art practices. Jake & Dinos Chapman’s most ambitious work was “Hell” (1999), an immense tabletop tableau, peopled with over 30,000 remodelled, 2-inch-high figures, many in Nazi uniform and performing egregious acts of cruelty. The work combined historical, religious and mythic narratives to present an apocalyptic snapshot of the 20th Century. This work was destroyed in the MOMART fire in 2004 and the Chapmans rebuked by saying they would make another, more ambitious in scale and detail, the result of which was “Fucking Hell” (2008). The exhibition begins on the ground floor by uniting more works than have ever been shown together before from the “Hell” series, including the major piece, “The Sum of All Evil”. Absurd, surreal and painstakingly detailed, the dioramas comprise of thousands of model Nazi soldiers engaged in scenes of orgiastic violence alongside other figures familiar from the Chapmans’ visual universe, such as Hitler and Ronald McDonald. Two other large works from the series, “Unhappy Feet” and “Altered Towers”, complete the floor. In the first floor the centerpiece is “SHITROSPECTIVE” that comprises of miniature versions of key works from their career, “Fuckfaces”, “Sex”, “Übermensch” and “Little Death Machine” replicated in cardboard and mounted on pedestals. Known as one of the iconic works of the Chapmans, “Insult to Injury” from the series of “The Disasters of War” is also hosted. Taking its cue from the Chapmans’ recent exhibition at The Serpentine Gallery in London, the top floor of the exhibition takes aim at the idealised white cube gallery space, resembling a show put together from a ransacked storage room the floor is chaotic and over-stuffed, filled with myriad 2-D and sculptural works.

Info: Curator: Nick Hackworth, ARTER – space for art, Istiklal Caddesi No: 211, Beyoğlu, Istanbul, Duration: 10/2-7/5/17, Days & Hours: Tue-Thu 11:00-19:00, Fri-Sun 12:00-20:00, www.arter.org.tr

Jake and Dinos Chapman, Altered Towers (Detail), 2011, Fibreglass, plastic and mixed media in steel vitrine, 215 x 127.5 x 127.5 cm, © Jake and Dinos Chapman Courtesy of the artists and Modern Forms
Jake and Dinos Chapman, Altered Towers (Detail), 2011, Fibreglass, plastic and mixed media in steel vitrine, 215 x 127.5 x 127.5 cm, © Jake and Dinos Chapman Courtesy of the artists and Modern Forms

 

 

Jake and Dinos Chapman, Unhappy Feet (Detail), 2010, Fibreglass, plastic and mixed media in steel vitrine, 216 x 171 x 171 cm, © Jake and Dinos Chapman, Courtesy of the artists and White Cube
Jake and Dinos Chapman, Unhappy Feet (Detail), 2010, Fibreglass, plastic and mixed media in steel vitrine, 216 x 171 x 171 cm, © Jake and Dinos Chapman, Courtesy of the artists and White Cube

 

 

Left: Jake and Dinos Chapman, CFC74378524 (Detail), 2002 Painted bronze, 125 x 48 x 45 cm, © Jake and Dinos Chapman, Courtesy of the artists and White Cube. Right: Jake and Dinos Chapman, The Sum of All Evil (Detail), 2012-13, Fibreglass, plastic and mixed media in four steel vitrines, 214 x 128 x 249 cm (each), © Jake and Dinos Chapman, Photo: Todd-White Art Photography, Courtesy of the artists and White Cube
Left: Jake and Dinos Chapman, CFC74378524 (Detail), 2002 Painted bronze, 125 x 48 x 45 cm, © Jake and Dinos Chapman, Courtesy of the artists and White Cube. Right: Jake and Dinos Chapman, The Sum of All Evil (Detail), 2012-13, Fibreglass, plastic and mixed media in four steel vitrines, 214 x 128 x 249 cm (each), © Jake and Dinos Chapman, Photo: Todd-White Art Photography, Courtesy of the artists and White Cube

 

 

Left: Jake and Dinos Chapman, The Disease Within The Disease (Detail), 2013, 100 watercolour and ink on paper works, 37,5 x 28 x 3 cm (framed), © Jake and Dinos Chapman, Photo: Jack Hems, Courtesy of the artists and White Cube. Right: Jake and Dinos Chapman, The Sum of All Evil (Detail), 2012-13, Fibreglass, plastic and mixed media in four steel vitrines, 214 x 128 x 249 cm (each), © Jake and Dinos Chapman, Photo: Todd-White Art Photography, Courtesy of the artists and White Cube
Left: Jake and Dinos Chapman, The Disease Within The Disease (Detail), 2013, 100 watercolour and ink on paper works, 37,5 x 28 x 3 cm (framed), © Jake and Dinos Chapman, Photo: Jack Hems, Courtesy of the artists and White Cube. Right: Jake and Dinos Chapman, The Sum of All Evil (Detail), 2012-13, Fibreglass, plastic and mixed media in four steel vitrines, 214 x 128 x 249 cm (each), © Jake and Dinos Chapman, Photo: Todd-White Art Photography, Courtesy of the artists and White Cube