May 6 – “Grape Juice” is an exhibition by Florentine artist Flavio Favelli that will open in Istanbul on May 16 at 6:30pm. For Favelli, this is his first solo show, curated by Vittorio Urbani, in the Turkish city. The exhibition will be on display until June 14 at the Main Hall of the Galata Okulu Rum, the ancient Greek school of Galata, which is now a qualified exhibition space and one of the main venues of the last Biennale of Contemporary Art in Istanbul. “Grape Juice – reads a statement – is the result of a period of study and work that the artist carried out in the Turkish city. He had been invited to take part in the third edition of Anteprima (an international program produced by AlbumArte, a cultural association in Rome chaired by Cristina Cobianchi and directed by Maria Rosa Sossai) with a project at Palazzo Venezia, the Istanbul residence of the Italian Ambassador to Turkey, Gianpaolo Scarante.” Favelli’s work began by taking the label of an old can of grape juice. This Hi-C juice was produced in America and owned by the Coca Cola Company. The white star and the letter “C” printed on the label reminded Favelli of the Turkish flag. From this, he created his emblematic piece of art, Grape Juice, which gave the title to the exhibition. The exhibition consists of four separate projects. At the entrance of the hall, the artist decided to place a large image of Istanbul, a sunset view of the city skyline. Favelli deliberately chose this “postcard” picture to highlight the stereotype of a romantic and melancholic view of the East. At the center of the main room there is a recycled iron panel, a kind of container that evokes the industrial side of the city. The artist sought the assistance of architect Murat Ozelmas for his search of materials, who recovered pieces from the suburbs and the industrial areas of the city; Murat Ozelmas had already assisted author Orhan Pamuk Ferit in the creation of the Museum of Innocence. The white wall at the bottom of the large room is fitted with four panel paintings in enamel, which present some details of banknotes from the 1970s. The elegant and decorative watermark represents the classic symbols of the country. In the niche theater, the artist exposed on a table an object he described as “haunting”: a bottle of Coca-Cola issued only for Turkey, which he found in Italy. A simple and seemingly mundane object that contains multiple meanings and suggestions.
