Ahmet Doğu İpek’s recent works come together on both the international and local stage with the exhibition Iron Earth Copper Sky opening at Tate St Ives and with the artist monograph Sound of the Ground – Face of the Stone / Yerin Sesi – Taşın Yüzü. While the exhibition can be visited until March 8, 2026, the book is being introduced to audiences and readers through launch events in London and Istanbul.
Painter and visual artist Ahmet Doğu İpek, known for his meticulous and detail-oriented practice, opened his exhibition Iron Earth Copper Sky at Tate St Ives on October 18. Invited by the museum’s Artist Residency and Commissions Programme, İpek began working at Porthmeor Studios in St Ives in April and completed the new pieces in September. The exhibition will remain on view until March 8, 2026.
Curated by Anne Barlow, Director of Tate St Ives, the exhibition draws inspiration from the natural environment and landscapes of Cornwall, while also following the recurring imagery of the night sky and the geography of Anatolia that appeared in İpek’s earlier series. The exhibition consists of two bodies of work positioned opposite one another: the first draws inspiration from rocks, Neolithic standing stones, and mining beds specific to St Ives; the two monochrome works positioned opposite evoke planets, black holes, and the boundless void of the universe, creating a deep sense of galaxy within the viewer.
Inspired by Yaşar Kemal
During his time in St Ives, İpek’s walks, observations, and direct engagement with nature shaped a visual language that moves between earth and sky, formed through rocks, minerals, waves, and atmospheric elements. Establishing connections between geographies through natural forms, colors, and associations, these works create permeability between such dualities as old/new, animate/inanimate, earth/sky, full/empty, East/West, heavy/light, near/far. The works in the exhibition borrow their title from Yaşar Kemal’s 1963 novel, and are named after St Eia, the patron saint of St Ives.
The Tate St Ives Artist Residency and Commissions Programme and the exhibition are realized in collaboration with SAHA and Tate St Ives.
Ahmet Doğu İpek’s Artist Monograph: Sound of the Ground – Face of the Stone
Ahmet Doğu İpek’s artist monograph Sound of the Ground – Face of the Stone / Yerin Sesi – Taşın Yüzü has been published by Mousse Publishing and Galeri Nev Istanbul after two years of preparation.
Edited by Nilüfer Şaşmazer and designed by Esen Karol, the publication features newly commissioned texts by Sibel Bozdoğan, Shumon Basar, Duygu Demir, Ariane Koek, and Tilo Schulz, as well as a poem by Selen Ansen. The English edition is published by Mousse Publishing and the Turkish edition by Galeri Nev Istanbul. The first launch took place during the Frieze London opening week at Tate Modern, London. The second launch will take place in Istanbul in November.
Supported as a RADAR project by the Nesrin Esirtgen Collection, the publication is structured around the artist’s serialized production. Each author focuses on different series by İpek, developing unique interpretations.
Sibel Bozdoğan’s text Nightmare Cities: Ahmet Doğu İpek’s Dystopian Construction Imaginaries centers on the artist’s “Construction Regime” series and architecture-related works, while Shumon Basar’s essay The New Stone Age Never Ends explores series such as Aşı, Tamir, Lapis Lazuli (Aşı), Spolia, and Construction Regime alongside his installations.
Duygu Demir, in Between Earth and Sky: Ahmet Doğu İpek’s Days, focuses on the “Days” series; Ariane Koek’s text Born from a Star: Tracing the Light and the Dark examines the “Ma” series as well as the Ypsilon, Pia, Day and Night, and Stars series.
Tilo Schulz’s Touching Distance: Four Observations on Ahmet Doğu İpek’s Works focuses on the “Root” series in addition to the installations Table and Soupir.
Moreover, Selen Ansen’s poem nyX, previously written for İpek’s “Days” series and book, is also included in the publication.
