Serkan Özkaya, We Will Wait, 2014-2017. Photo illustration by Brett Beyer and Lal Bahcecioglu.
SERKAN ÖZKAYA
We Will Wait
October 21 - December 22, 2017
"...an innately intriguing experience."
—Brian Boucher, artnet
"In the post-Duchamp, post-truth age, [a great story] may be the only aim to which art can aspire."
—Marc Mewshaw, The New York Times
***
For the last twenty years of his life, Marcel Duchamp worked in absolute secrecy on his final masterpiece. After his death on
October 2nd, 1968, his close friends and the world were stunned to find, hidden in his studio at 80 East 11th Street Suite #403,
the completed Étant donnés, an elaborately detailed and beautifully disturbing room—encompassing tableau, which could be peered
upon through two peepholes in a wooden door, enclosing the illuminated scene within.
Four years ago, Serkan Özkaya imagined Étant donnés as a camera obscura. What if the peepholes weren't only peepholes? (When has
Duchamp's work only ever been one thing?) What if the peepholes were also meant to project an image? Ozkaya built a scale model to
see; to his surprise, the projected image resembled a face.
Özkaya contacted the Philadelphia Museum of Art—where Étant donnés has been permanently installed since 1969—with his discovery.
Several conversations with PMA's curators resulted in a dead end. Özkaya was not permitted to test his theory with the piece. Thus,
he embarked upon making an exact recreation. Özkaya further secured the studio in which the piece was originally completed.
Following Duchamp's exacting instructions, the idea could be tested in situ.
Featured in The New York Times, October 1st, Marc Mewshaw writes: "A previously unknown self-portrait lurking unnoticed for five
decades within a supremely enigmatic work? To devotees of Duchamp, among the 20th century's most influential artists, it's a Dead
Sea Scrolls moment."
Now, Postmasters is thrilled to present Özkaya's recreation, entitled We Will Wait. The room-sized installation will be shown
in a never–before–seen or accessible space. In the adjacent gallery, a selection of objects, such as the female figure, extricated
through meticulous research and 3D printed at Womp Studios in Brooklyn; artifacts, such as the Welsbach burner from the late 1800s;
and documents, such as the long exposure photo of the projected face of Duchamp in a light box and historic photographs paired with
contemporary photographs taken by Özkaya, will be exhibited.
Coinciding with the exhibition is the release of PUBLIC Issue #56, edited by Özkaya and poet Robert Fitterman. Dedicated to Duchamp's
final piece and Özkaya's discovery, the issue is titled PUBLIC ATTENDANT A-Z.
Serkan Özkaya
Double
2017
dual video
running time: 7:16 minutes
dimensions variable
Serkan Özkaya
We Will Wait
2017
archival C-print, light box
16.75 x 12 x 3 inches
Serkan Özkaya
#403 (interior)
2017
archival C-prints
11 x 16 inches, framed
Serkan Özkaya
#403 (exterior)
2017
archival C-prints
11 x 15.75 inches, framed
Serkan Özkaya
We Will Wait
2014-2017
plastic sheeting, cardboard, Styrofoam, aluminum, clamps,
wood, synthetic fiber wig, artificial white snow fluff, glue, blush, nail polish, acrylic paint, crayon, chalk, digital print, frosted Plexiglas,
fluorescent lights, spot lights, 3D printed PLA, Auer-Welsbach burner, glass, twigs, leaves, paper, Philips Hue Bridge, Philips Hue App,
Duvetyn, fabric, 3 RPM motor, LED lights, artificially weathered barn door, wallpaper, plastic panel, vinyl tiles, vellum, fishing line
164 x 136 x 249.5 inches
Serkan Özkaya
Mehr nicht!
2017
Auer-Welsbach burner
7 x 2.5 inches
Serkan Özkaya
Maria
2017
3D printed PLA
38 x 42 x 9 inches
Serkan Özkaya
Voyeur
2017
archival C-print
17.75 x 13.5 inches, framed