Belgin Yücelen: From Ancient to Now

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Belgin Yücelen, Who am I?, Bronze, 11x6x6 in. Courtesy of the artist.

Belgin Yücelen: From Ancient to Now is the new exhibition of the Turkish-American artist Belgin Yücelen at BoxHeart Gallery in Pittsburgh, PA. The exhibition, from May 28th through June 28th 2019, draws on a range of cultural and historical references.

Organized by Nicole Capozzi and Joshua Hogan, owners of BoxHeart Gallery, Belgin Yücelen: From Ancient to Now references not only ancient scripts, architectural patterns, traditions, and social interactions but also allusions to literature, history and science. Yücelen’s intent is to engage the community in understanding how norms and values within the present landscape were shaped by the past and how the future will form them. Belgin Yücelen: From Ancient to Now tells stories lost in a time between ancient and now and a place between Middle East and West.

Belgin Yücelen, Humor and Impudence, Bronze and Stainless Steel, 11x4x6 in. Courtesy of the artist.

Yücelen’s figurative bronze sculptures are a philosophical journey through the essential elements of life. Each sculpture is a visual commentary that questions our urge to overthrow our present norms, values, and aesthetics, instead of using them to inform our progress. By mashing past and future together, Yücelen dares us to cherish the human intimacy and face to face collaboration that we used to take for granted, and to discover new pathways to them.

The figurative bronze sculptures included explore the concepts of time, self, traditions and epics. Among the works on paper featured are “Overwritten Scripts” on Women’s Rights in Islamic countries, “To Moon” series referencing ancient scripts and poetry and “Trousseau” series, which displays belongings a woman takes with her to her husband’s house. Also on display will be selected metal sculptural dresses and shoes from “Clothes from the Past” series.

Belgin Yücelen, Where do you go?, Bronze, 17X8x5 in. Courtesy of the artist.

Inspired by her cultural history, Yücelen created garments as a reference to the clothing patterns of Europe and Anatolia during the era of the Ottoman Empire. Her work, “Persian Dress with Crescents“, was inspired from a woman’s 18th century robe because of the deep influences of Persian language, epic poems, and miniature paintings on the Ottoman culture. Constructed from brass and red dupioni silk, Yücelen used a technique she adopted form dival embroidery of thread over cardboard to create the dresses crescents. The crescent motif appears in Turkish textiles dating as far back as the 14th century.

Belgin Yücelen, Man and the bird, Bronze and Wood, 14x5x5 in. Courtesy of the artist.

Yücelen sculpture at the Florence Accademia D’Arte in Florence, University of Colorado Boulder, Art Students League of Denver, and Scottsdale Art School. With a PhD in chemical engineering and research, Yücelen also knows how exciting the future is. She has received various grants including; the 2018 Moon and Stars Project Grant; 2018 and 2017 Fellow by the Clark Hulings Fund, 2018 Kristal Martı Award by KALID; the 2017 Tending Space Fellowship for Artists by Hemera Foundation, and she is a National Sculpture Society elected member.

Belgin Yücelen, Power of Harmony, Bronze, 10x4x2 in. Courtesy of the artist.

Belgin Yücelen: From Ancient to Now | Exhibition view. Courtesy of the artist.

Belgin Yücelen: From Ancient to Now
May 28th – June 28th 2019
BoxHeart Gallery
Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Discover: belginyucelen.com | boxheartgallery.com