Cemre Yeşil
Double Portrait
Foam presents the exhibition Double Portrait by Cemre Yeşil at MAQAM in Amsterdam West. The project examines the relationship between mother and child through different lenses. It deals with topics such as identity, loss, and memory. The work questions the traditions of portraiture and explores the psychological aspects of photography.
About the series
With her intimate work, Yeşil wants to break through the clichés surrounding motherhood and take a raw, natural look at it. Contemplating the ‘hidden embrace’ as a symbolic gesture for the comforting maternal presence, the artist created her own versions of double portraits. Double Portrait shows the complex relationship between mother-child and the unfolding process of motherhood. It is also a visual response to the unimaginable death of everyone’s mother. Double Portrait invites the viewer to remember what it means to be held and experience what it means to hold regardless of cultural norms related to gender. The work speaks of something we all know about emotionally, but can’t articulate all that easily. We know it when we see it. We know it when we feel it. We know it when it is absent. We carry it when we have been held, and we carry it when we have not been held.
Part of Kısmet
Cemre Yeşil - Double Portrait is part of Kısmet, a multi-year project organised by Studio Polat and Foam with a focus on Turkish visual culture through research, outreach, and exhibitions. Kısmet aims to visualise what it means to be Turkish. How do young Dutch-Turkish image-makers and that same generation of image-makers in Turkey give shape to the worlds they live in? Taking as a starting point a shared heritage, Kısmet explores the complex and rich perspectives of these emerging talents.
The exhibition is made possible by Kleurgamma Fine-Art Photolab and Starframe.
Foam is supported by de VriendenLoterij, Foam Members, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, the VandenEnde Foundation and Gemeente Amsterdam.
Cemre Yeşil
Double Portrait