Contemporary Istanbul

From 22 to 27 September, Konstantin Chaykin will present the CODEX concept at Contemporary Istanbul, the art fair held in the historic Tersane Istanbul complex.

The exhibition is devoted to how artworks are created. In Horological Art — the genre created by Konstantin Chaykin — the elementary operation is the point of departure, and it becomes the organising idea of the booth: dividing a circle, drawing an axis, joining arcs. Together these operations make up the language in which the multidisciplinary artist paints.

Hence the title. A codex is at once a manuscript, a body of laws and a writing system. Konstantin Chaykin’s Codex has its own alphabet of circles and axes, a syntax of divisions and symmetries, and a vocabulary that keeps expanding.

On Konstantin Chaykin's artworks, a detail of a watch movement works as a unit of that language, much as a morpheme does in a word. It holds the image together in the way a brushstroke does for the Post-Impressionists, or a plane of colour for the Modernists. The detail is therefore not an object depicted in the painting, but part of its grammar. The difference is fundamental: an object in a picture can be exchanged for another and the picture survives; take away an element of this grammar, and the whole system falls apart.

That we are dealing with a language is confirmed by one fact above all: the same set of operations gives rise to statements that cannot be reduced to one another.

At the booth, visitors will see three new works — 'Dormouse Dance', 'Obsessed With Time 2' and 'In Search of Time'. Also on show: an exclusive only at the exhibitions limited edition 12-colour silkscreen 'Wolf', the limited edition catalogue 'Konstantin Chaykin: Horological Archetypes' and the book 'Konstantin Chaykin: Haute Horlogerie with a Russian Soul'.

We look forward to seeing you !
Address: Camikebir Mahallesi, Taşkızak Tersanesi Cd. No:5, 34440 Beyoğlu, Istanbul.