Header photo: From New Kilims from Uşak, at Knotisse. Above, from top: Kilim at Knotisse. 20-1 Colors at ADAS. Mike Berg at work on a restaurant mural in İstanbul, 2023. Flags for the Future, by Mike Berg.
American-born sculptor and artist Mike Berg will have two exhibitions running in two locations simultaneously in İstanbul, Turkey in November–December 2023. While known for monumental murals, metal and wood sculptures and installation art, the shows will spotlight other works from the imagination of this multi-faceted artist: adventurous colour explorations on handmade paper at ADAS Gallery; and collaborations with traditional Turkish textile artisans at Knotisse.
‘It is always a special occasion when I return to İstanbul. I am particularly attached to the particular light of the city, to the architecture, to the works of Arshiel Gorky and to the amazing colour palette found in Anatolia. There is nowhere else on earth that I know with such a passionate connection to traditional art and craft. It influences my work in every way,’ says Berg.
The ADAS show entitled 20-1 Colors runs November 15–December 15 and will feature one-of-a-kind monotypes displayed in a expansive horizontal installation. These surprising colour explorations were created on handmade paper sourced from the workshop of Ruth Lingen of Line Press, Brooklyn. Additionally, the ADAS show will offer collectible drawings and gouache paintings on French handmade paper and small format original works created during the COVID pandemic.
The vernissage for 20-1 Colors will be November 15, 2023.
At Knotisse, the exhibition entitled New Kilims from Uşak runs November 17–December 17 and will showcase handwoven rugs and carpets, some as large as 2 m by 3 m. These represent Mike Berg’s long-standing collaboration with traditional Turkish textile artists. A new kilim based on a detail from a Berg gouache painting will highlight the exhibition at Knotisse’s minimalist industrial space.
The vernissage for New Kilims from Uşak will happen on November 17, 2023.
Mike Berg divides his time between New York City, Washington State and İstanbul, living and working in all three locations. Born in 1948, he is a career artist with a long track record of one-man and group shows, private and museum collections, monumental installations, and coverage in the press. He is popular with collectors, galleries and museums and enjoys ongoing residential and commercial commissions. He has a special relationship with the Turkish nation and its arts, and has had a residence in İstanbul for two decades.
Art journalist and author Linda Yablonsky said of him: ‘Berg is a kind of æsthetic anarchist, disrupting the natural processes of decay and organizing his interventions into exquisitely layered abstraction.’
You may also like
