Catalogue > Un extrait vidéo au hasard

Ferhat Ozgür, a Turkish artist, seeks to understand the relationship between the leader and the people in Conquest (2016), a two-channel video that documents a massive rally of Erdogan supporters at a stadium in Istanbul. The rally, which takes place on the anniversary of the capture of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, encourages the attendees (and those watching at home) to understand themselves as players in another spectacular triumph, fulfilling their historic destiny. In Ozgür's video, shots of attendees are interspersed with footage taken from the Turkish blockbuster Conquest 1453 (2012), which glorifies the Ottoman empire and Sultan Mehmet II's siege while expunging non-Turks from his army. In Conquest, as the crowd assembles on one screen, on the other shows Ozgür editing footage on his computer, casually splicing together shots of individuals in different settings and excising others, altering the scene in order to achieve a particular effect on the viewer-who might confuse the artifice for reality, and even turn the former into the latter. Alexander Provan, (Extracted text from They The People, Art in America, December 2017)

He graduated from Gazi University, Education Faculty, Department of Painting and Crafts. He obtained his master and Phd in Art degree in Hacettepe University Fine Arts Faculty Painting Department. His work has been shown in numerous venues including, Göteborg Konsthall, Georges Pompidou-Paris, Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Moderna Musset Malmö, IMMA-Dublin, MUMOK-Vienna, Pittsburg Modern Art Museum and Zabludowicz Foundation-London. Ozgür has solo shows in several institutions abroad such as MoMA PS1-New York, Michigan University Museum of Art and Marabouparken-Sweden. He took part in the 9th Busan Biennale (2018) 6th Berlin Biennale (2010) and 10th Istanbul Biennale (2007) Ozgür still works as a professor in Düzce University and he is a member of AICA (Association Internationale des Arts Critiqués). He lives in Istanbul and presented by The Pill-Istanbul.