Dirimart

In a diverse practice that spans sculpture, drawing, video, photography, performance, and installation, Nasan Tur examines social conditions, probing the relationship between production and value, as well as modes of communication and their connection to power. Through his interventions, the artist invites viewers to reconsider these dynamics from new perspectives. Tur’s Magic video explores the art of conjuring as a powerful tool for manipulating perception, revealing how easily audiences can be guided toward a suggested reality. By immersing himself in the practice of magic for over a year and training with various magicians and conjurors, Tur investigates the mechanics of persuasion—how opinions are shaped and how external influences dictate what we perceive as truth. His work exposes the delicate interplay between illusion and belief, demonstrating how meaning can be constructed and distorted, leaving viewers in a state of uncertainty about what is real and what is merely a trick of the mind. In his performance, Tur’s hands take on the role of a magician’s—capable of transforming objects with seamless precision, stripping them of their political weight, and turning them into vessels of spectacle. Press photos from demonstrations vanish, an Israeli flag shifts into a Palestinian flag, and a single dollar bill multiplies into a hundred. These transformations, though simple in execution, carry profound implications about perception and power, highlighting how easily the political can dissolve into the mesmerizing pull of illusion. Magic ultimately questions our willingness to be deceived and reminds us that the reality we accept is often a matter of perspective.

Nasan Tur (b.1974, Offenbach) graduated from the Academy of Art and Design Offenbach and Academy of Art Städelschule Frankfurt. He was exhibited extensively internationally, including solo exhibitions at Splinter in My Eye, Dirimart Dolapdere, Istanbul (2017); Oldenburger Kunstverein (2017); Fondazione Adolfo Pini, Milano (2017); Blain/Southern, Berlin (2016); Deweer Gallery, Belgium (2016); Kunst Haus Wien (2016); Blain/Southern, London (2015); Kunsthal 44 Møen, Denmark (2014); Kunsthalle Mannheim (2011); Kunstmuseum Stuttgart (2009) and Yapı Kredi Kazım Taşkent Art Gallery, Istanbul (2009). A major solo show at Pori Art Museum in Finland is upcoming in 2018. Important group exhibitions include Documenta 14 (2017); Bucharest Biennale (2016); Lentos Museum Linz (2016); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2015); Fondazione MAXXI, Rome (2015); Centre Pompidou, Paris (2015); Museo d’Arte Moderna, Bologna (2015); Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin (2014); Istanbul Modern (2013); Whitechapel Gallery, London (2013); Arter, Istanbul (2011); Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt am Main (2009); Taipei Biennale (2008); and Istanbul Biennial (2007). Nasan Tur lives and works in Berlin.

Celebrating its 23rd year in 2025, Dirimart is more focused than ever on challenging and revitalising the existing gallery model in Istanbul. Founded in 2002 by Hazer Özil with the intent of exhibiting established and emerging artists both from Turkey and around the world in a context conducive to critical dialogue and cross-pollination, the pivotal concern of the gallery’s program is individual and regional differences while fostering cosmopolitanism and collaboration. Dirimart cultivates a program premised on conceptualism, political resistance and intellectual rigour. Located in two distinct locations in Beyoğlu, Dolapdere and Pera, the gallery divides its program between established artists, such as Ayşe Erkmen, İnci Eviner, Canan Tolon, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Sarah Morris, Anselm Reyle, Jorinde Voigt, Tomokazu Matsuyama, and Karin Kneffel and emerging artists, such as Çiğdem Aky, Çağla Ulusoy, Berke Yazıcıoğlu, and Ebru Duruman. The gallery, through Dirimart and RES Publications (est. 2007), also continues its well-established series of catalogues, artist books and books on art theory.