Cultured Traveler: In Istanbul, Seeing Art Through Two Lenses

Ayman Oghanna for The New York Times

A recent solo exhibition by the Turkish artist Volkan Aslan at Arter.

The art scene in Istanbul has gradually shifted from a heavily traditional one that celebrates the city's history to a contemporary one that prizes its upstarts. Less than a decade ago, the city's Museum of Modern Art was inaugurated. Last year the contemporary art space SALT opened. This year nearly a dozen Istanbul galleries were on hand at London's Frieze (and the Randalls Island New York version) and at Art Basel.

Now, it seems, the city has truly come into its own as a contemporary art hub.

Because culture so often regenerates, even within this nascent world is an older guard — established artists whose work graces the sort of pristine minimalist galleries you'd find in Chelsea in Manhattan — and rogues who create subversive street art. They, too, are gaining a foothold, sometimes presenting works in cooperation with cosmopolitan institutions. But their art, which is often on view in public spaces, seems more accessible to tourists, who may unknowingly come across it on a stroll through the city. Many works by these newer artists were inspired by — and on view during — demonstrations at Taksim Square this summer.

As I wandered around Istanbul in the wake of the protests, I explored this bifurcated world, and realized that seeing one side without the other is an incomplete viewing. Below is a survey of the two approaches juxtaposed, the best way for the eye to recognize contrasts.

ESTABLISHED CONTEMPORARY

Elipsis Gallery

This small photography gallery, opened by Sinem Yoruk in 2007, is tucked away on a leafy street in the newly stylish neighborhood of Karakoy. But don't let its size fool you. Elipsis has relevance in the broader art world; it even counts the Guggenheim among its followers on Twitter. It has the requisite white walls and charcoal matte floors of a big-city gallery, and when I was there had a show called Edition III that included the work of an art darling: Civan Ozkanoglu, a Turk who now lives in New York. (He is also part of a show at the Museum of Modern Art.) Opening next month is an exhibition featuring digitally reproduced works of the avant-garde photographer Sahin Kaygun, whose medium in the early '80s was Polaroids.

Elipsis Gallery, Hoca Tahsin Sokaka, Akce Han, 10, Karakoy; elipsisgallery.com.

Rampa Gallery

This gallery sits in a renovated row house in Besiktas, northeast of the old town, nestled in the little hills of the city and facing the Black Sea. Founded in 2010 by the husband-and-wife team of Arif and Leyla Tara Suyabatmaz, it is one of the most renowned galleries in Istanbul. It reliably delivers work by a set of high-priced artists who are no strangers to prestigious art fairs across Europe, and the gallery was part of New York's Frieze this year. Its next exhibition, called "Open Phone Booth" (and opening Sept. 11), features pieces by the Turkish artists Cengiz Cekil, whose work is part of MoMA's permanent collection, and Nilbar Güre, who now lives in Vienna.

Rampa Gallery, Sair Nedim Cadessi, 21/A, Akaretler; rampaistanbul.com.

Arter

Midway between the medieval Galata Tower and Taksim Square, and sandwiched between stores on the busiest shopping street in Turkey, is this well-regarded exhibition space. It opened in 2010 as an initiative of the Vehbi Koc Foundation. Since then it has regularly featured thought-provoking shows. Its recent solo exhibition by the Turkish artist Volkan Aslan, for example, included a memorable section with hybridized statuettes, like a lady in a red dress with a duck's head, dispersed around the room. Come September, Arter will be hosting the Istanbul Biennial, this year cheekily entitled "Mom, Am I Barbarian?"

Arter, Ystiklal Cadessi, 211, Beyoolu; www.arter.org.tr.

SUBVERSIVE UNDERGROUND 

Ha Za Vu Zu

Your timing needs to be perfect to catch the experimental performance art collective Ha Za Vu Zu on stage, or on the street. This eight-year-old group is made up of a mix of five 30-something Turkish artists each of whom come with his or her own mixed-media super power. It seems fitting since their mission is to save the world, or rather to inspire social change and new ways of political engagement. One of their recent works unfolded at Bethnal Green in London, where as part of an exhibition with the Whitechapel gallery, they used 20 volunteers to supply vocals in an agitprop performance. Their intention was for these participants to make such statements and use them as a gesture of reaction for onlooking crowds.

This summer they tried to further their cause as citizens (not artists) at Taksim Square during the protests. To track down Ha Za Vu Zu, it helps to check their blog.

hazavuzu.blogspot.com

Elif Nursad

Originally from the Black Sea area, this protest artist regularly contributes cartoons to the political magazine LeMan. The writing may be in Turkish but the work is not lost in translation: it stars a cloaked superheroine on fantastical adventures within the Istanbul metro and on ancient cobbled streets. Ms. Nursad also sells some of her pieces online and through the Ilhami Atalay Gallery, which her father opened 30 years ago as a protest art haven. But the best way to enjoy her work is to keep an eye out for her feline murals around town, especially en route to the Hagia Sophia Mosque in the Golden Horn area.

Elif Nursad murals, Alemdar Cadessi, 22, Sultanahmet; elifnursadatalay.com.

Anonymous Protest Art

Politically charged street art proliferated across Taksim Square as the protests against redeveloping Gezi Park got under way. Temporary installations like a "Post-It" tree with revolution-inspired messages, a throne meant for a resting princess after protesting all day, a life-size chessboard with the Turkish police as the pawns and a Caterpillar loader sprayed bright pink all surfaced as artists were on view. More permanent works are still on view, for now. All manner of stenciling and graffiti with a political bent can be found on the tight streets in the bourgeois areas of Cukurcuma and Cihangir, including Liva Sokaoi, Balyoz Sokaoi (off the bigger Mesrutiyet Caddessi), Yüksek Kaldirim Caddessi and Sah Kulu Bostan Sokaoi. The names might be a mouthful but they are certainly showcasing some of the best work in the city.

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