exhibition

Olgaç Bozalp
Dad on His Search for Hüseyin

Foam has been working with the West City District for years to present exhibitions in Mercatorplein's public space. In Dad on His Search for Hüseyin, visual artist Olgaç Bozalp follows his father around with his camera on a journey through different locations that serve as backdrops for their personal stories and adventures to unfold.

Dad And Omani Friends, November 2018 © Olgaç Bozalp.
Dad on his search for Hüseyin, June 2021 © Olgaç Bozalp.
Dad on his search for Hüseyin, Silifke, June 2021 © Olgaç Bozalp.

About the exhibition

In the series, photographer Olgaç Bozalp follows his father Hüseyin around with his camera, recording his model’s unique way of travelling. The result is a photo series that brings us back to the family album images many have at home, with their colourful, fuzzy, overexposed, and weirdly framed snapshots. Images that, nonetheless, capture the feeling of temporary relief vacations provide, with their unexpected encounters and sun-drenched memories.

Dad in Hollywood, LA, October 2019 © Olgaç Bozalp.

About the artist

Olgaç Bozalp (b. 1987, Turkey) is a visual artist with a fictional approach to documentary photography. His photographic research explores topics connected to travel, cultural identity, and migration. Through the juxtaposition of Western and non-Western beauty, masculinity, and femininity, his art promotes a more diversified understanding of these concepts and challenges their traditional roles.

Olgaç became Foam Talent in 2022. His photographs have been published by T Magazine, Dazed, Le Monde, and Atmos as well as exhibited in Aperture Gallery, Unseen, National Portrait Gallery and Sharjah Art Foundation.

Dad on his search for Hüseyin, June 2021 © Olgaç Bozalp.

Also on show at MAQAM

Do you want to dive further into the work of Olgaç Bozalp? Come and see the series Leaving one for another from 23 June until 7 October at MAQAM, a creative space in Amsterdam-West. In the series, the artist explores the cultural identity of transmigrants and their reasons for leaving their homeland. Drawing upon his personal experiences as a migrant, Bozalp combines staged and documentary photography to present emotive matters of migration and finding a home in new environments.

MAQAM can only be visited by appointment.

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Sunrise, Istanbul, October 2021 © Olgaç Bozalp.

Kısmet

Dad in search of Hüseyin and Leaving one for another are part of Kısmet, a multi-year project that was created by artist Ahmet Polat and further developed in collaboration with Foam. It was initiated based on the longstanding cultural, diplomatic and economic connections between Turkey and the Netherlands. Through research, outreach, and exhibitions, Kısmet focuses on the complex and rich perspectives of Turkish visual culture, as seen through the perspective of different generations of image makers.

The exhibitions 'Dad on his search for Hüseyin' and 'Leaving one for another' are part of Kısmet, a close collaboration between Studio Polat and Foam. Kısmet has been made possible by the generous support of the Mondriaan Fund.

Galerie Mercatorplein is made possible by Stadsdeel Amsterdam-West.

The exhibition is made possible by VandenEnde Foundation and Kleurgamma Fine-Art Photolab.


Foam Galerie Mercatorplein Olgaç Bozalp 18 low res – foto Maarten Nauw

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Olgaç Bozalp
Dad on His Search for Hüseyin