Petah Coyne’s (CRF 2005) work Untitled #922 (The Strange Bird), 1997-98, will be included in You Know Who, an international group exhibition curated by Selen Ansen and Brigitte Pitarakis, organized by Koç Holding. Taking place at the historic Abdülmecid Efendi Mansion in Istanbul, Turkey, You Know Who showcases the works of over 45 artists and explores the “intersections between Byzantium and the contemporary art world through the influence of the supernatural—the mysterious, strange, and invisible—on human emotions, behavior, and artistic production,” states curator Brigitte Pitarakis in the show’s accompanying catalogue.
Coyne’s Untitled #922 (The Strange Bird), 1997-98, is on view on the ground floor of the mansion. This sculpture is an example of the hair and taxidermy works Coyne made in the late ’90s that explore a dark fantasy world populated by animals. Tangled in web of woven black hair, the once recognizable silhouettes of the taxidermied birds have been reimagined as a fantastic, amalgamated creature, whose web, reminiscent of black Irish lace and dust bunnies, crawls out toward viewers. Evidence of their original forms, the delicate ends of the birds’ feathers peek out from beneath the knotted tapestry of hair. Alternatively, this scene of entrapment can be envisioned as one of transformation, with the animals emerging from their cocoon. As curator Selen Ansen writes in the exhibition catalogue, “the enigma does not reside within this shapeless mass that could serve as a nest or a trap. The enigma lies entirely in this ‘strange bird’ which only shows itself in order to better conceal, and which conceals in such a way as to let us guess at the presence hidden at its heart—without it being able to be named.”
You Know Who is on view at the Abdülmecid Efendi Mansion in Istanbul, Turkey from September 23 – December 11, 2022.
For further details, please view the exhibition booklet here.
Image: Untitled #922 (The Strange Bird), 1997-98, photo by Wit McKay.