Ardan Özmenoğlu and Lennart Brede: Stories Whispered by Nature and Told by the Body

Anna Laudel Istanbul brings together two renowned names of contemporary art between 20 September – 10 November 2024: Ardan Özmenoğlu’s ‘What Trees Whisper?’ and Lennart Brede’s ‘ANGELS FALL – Where From Where To’ invites art lovers to a profound exploration of man’s relationship with nature and with himself as part of 212 Photography Istanbul.

Whispers of Nature and Transparency of Glass: Ardan Özmenoğlu
In her ‘What Trees Whisper?’ series, Ardan Özmenoğlu focuses on the silent communication that trees establish with each other by integrating with the mysterious language of nature. In her works created with glass sculptures and natural materials, she reveals the spaces that trees allow each other and the rhythm of nature. The tree figures she paints on glass with coloured nail polish grow, change and sometimes disintegrate into pieces by getting closer with paint strokes. While the gaps hidden in this process become visible, the magical structure of nature opens up to the viewers. The artist emphasises that these perfect gaps, which nature presents as a metaphor for humans, form the deep emotional bonds of life and the basis of relationships.

Narrative of the Body and the Investigation of Identity: Lennart Brede
Lennart Brede’s exhibition ‘ANGELS FALL – From Where To’ is a profound exploration of the body’s relationship to space, identity and personal origins. Through various mediums such as photographs, three-channel video installation, sculptures and sound collages, the exhibition offers the viewer a multi-layered experience. Analysing the limits of the body, its interaction with its environment and the impact of social structures on human identity, Brede invites the viewer to question their own identities and their surroundings rather than providing definitive answers. The exhibition’s elaborate carpet installation symbolises rootedness and heritage, combining traditional elements with contemporary expression and allowing the viewer to establish a deep connection with themselves.

Özmenoğlu’s narrative, which focuses on the deep bonds of trees and the whispers of nature, and Brede’s works, which make us think about body and identity, reveal how similar nature and human beings are to each other. While the communication of trees with their roots is shaped by gaps similar to the relationships between humans, the interaction of the body with its environment parallels the rhythm of nature. Both artists lead the viewer into deep thoughts about the complexity of life, the subtleties of existence and how these two worlds are woven together.

This mesmerising exhibition by Ardan Özmenoğlu and Lennart Brede tells the story of both nature and man in the same space, from two different perspectives that complement each other. These two exhibitions, which meet at Anna Laudel Istanbul, invite you on a journey from the whispers of nature to the narrative of the body.