In his latest exhibition Yeasting the Canvas, explores the links between the ‘basic’ need and the ’divine’ pursuit, between the ‘fundamental’ and the ‘sophisticated’, leaving the question of ‘which is which’ to his audience.
As a conceptual artist, Sümer regularly uses everyday items to challenge established viewpoints. Here, it is food that takes centre stage, confronting our understanding of humanity and art, and their place in the world.
What is food? Beyond providing sustenance to the body, Sümer presents food as art: a distinguishing identity and a shared culture that also dazzles. Yeast forms the bedrock of his exhibition, a strong metaphor about our growth and decay that is aptly hosted in the basement of a shop selling pots and pans.
Through his yeast-inspired artefacts, Sümer poses important philosophical questions about the world around us. Food serves as a vital indicator on the huge and ever-widening gap between the haves and have nots. A life that includes hunger, famine, hunger strikes, homelessness, disadvantaged masses perishing, and food banks on one hand, alongside food being thrown into the sea to regulate prices.
Where does art come in the scheme of things for those deprived of life essentials such as food and shelter? Would art be on their list of priorities? And of those who regard art as a form of aesthetic power or critical force, would they diminish and rot away if art is removed from their lives?
In the process of creativity, fire replaced the brush, flour served as paint, and table clothes were turned into canvases. The exhibition revisits themes from Sümer’s other recent works, where he froze the visual journey to examine the metamorphosis: to change, to rot, to head towards annihilation, or perhaps what looks like annihilation will give birth to something else.
Exhibition details
Title: Yeasting the Canvas
Runs until: 12 August 2017 (viewing my prior appointment only)
Venue address: An Other Place / Chefware, 52 Stoke Newington High Street, London N16 7PB
Admission: Free
Contact: Email sumererek1@gmail.com or call 07957 666097 to book an appointment
