Song of the Whale
Kate Hickey
Whales have been the source of inspiration for Gulay Alpay’s works for over ten years. This December, Alpay will hold her New York debut exhibition at the Broadway Gallery, displaying what she describes as the transfer of the audio into visual.
All the colors of the ocean, whirling waves and bursting chords of movement convey the musical and mystical world of the whale in her canvases. She would like visitors to reflect on the visual and audio beauty of the whale, thus the visitors will be enveloped by an audio track of whale sounds in the exhibition space.
Alpay has been exhibiting her works since 1985 and has had great success in shows in every continent. A graduate of fashion design in 1992, from professor Özdemir Altan’s studio in Istanbul, her work has spanned many mediums including performance, textiles, canvas, ceramics and now soundscapes.
While working on these current pieces, she focused closely on the sounds of the whale. She said that she "tries to catch the rhythms in small and great forms and dimensions on the canvas."
Since 2002, Alpay has been involved in two international projects. The first, "the Coaster Project" set out to transcend geographic political and cultural boundaries by distributing over 10,000 pieces of art around the world. In excess of 99 artists staged "trans-global exhibitions" where the pieces were displayed and then "handed out around the world in the guise of coasters to bars, cafes and restaurants."
The second exhibition is "the Tile Project," which will run through 2006 and will culminate in 22 innovative public artworks, from mosaics to new art forms. Each of these original pieces will incorporate ties created by over 100 international artists.
Exhibitions of these works are scheduled to take place everywhere from Washington to Seoul. The first was hosted by Alpay in Istanbul. "My works are now in various museums, art galleries and art centres in more than 50 countries," Alpay tells me.
Both of these projects were organized by Trans-Cultural Exchange, a non-profit group whose mission is to foster a greater understanding of world cultures by way of high-quality art exchanges, exhibits, panel discussions and community programs.
This understanding and harmony is close to Alpay’s heart. "The universal, peaceable, pluralist and uniting invitation of art will reach all art lovers. With the hope that, instead of the threat of war and global terrorism, peace and friendship will embrace all humanity." This synthesis can be seen clearly through her work.
Since 2004, she has been diligently ensconcing her works in major art centres of the world including North American, Montreal and Istanbul. Her upcoming exhibition will be her first big step in her "art attack" toward harmony and understanding. And it will not end with New York–she hopes to continue exhibiting throughout the United States, promoting the idea of an ideal and unified world.
These whale-themed pieces speak volumes. Alpay conveys the energetic charge of their crashing tails in stark black and muscular red. Her use of color illustrates their dramatic movements, and the sea world becomes a swirling example of abstract expressionism. Relying on the prompting of nature alone, the works embody chaos, calm, movement and stillness, inspiring the spectator to reflect on the themes of nature, music and humanity.
