Ayşe Erkmen’s exhibition Persistence, Still at Dirimart London brings together seven works specially designed by the artist for the gallery’s move to its new space. The works question what the physical relocation of a gallery to a different environment with new audiences might mean aesthetically and conceptually.
The work that gives the exhibition its name, Israr, hâlâ (2025), consists of wooden panels that once supported plasterboard walls in Dirimart’s Istanbul gallery. These panels are scattered throughout the gallery, as if the construction and relocation process were still ongoing.
The sound piece Dolapdere (2017), which prompts reflection on the potential to transform the surroundings of gallery spaces, consists of the indistinctly vocalized names of shops that have closed or been displaced in Istanbul’s Dolapdere neighborhood, as part of Dirimart. Accompanying this work is the short film Dolapdere, Film (2025), which will be shown to audiences for the first time as part of the exhibition and visualizes the streets that form the context of the sound work. This approach to memory is also present in the artist’s second video work, Kaydırma (2021). This video invites viewers to navigate back and forth through Erkmen’s visual archive of previous works, but in this archive, the viewer is navigating alongside the artist in the process of creating her next work.
In the exhibition, Erkmen repeats another of her signature gestures: she weaves ribbons bearing her name onto one of the columns in the space. This work, Ribbon (2005), which references the artist’s grandmother, a seamstress, opens up a discussion about the relationship between sculpture production and craftsmanship, while also offering a space for reflection on the use of the artist’s name.
The silver works titled Circles on Circles (2025) at the gallery entrance reveal the artist’s relationship with the material through sculptural form. The ceramic works titled Weight to Form (2025), on the other hand, bypass the traditional steps of ceramic production, placing technique at the center and transforming the initial stages into sculpture.
How Does the Interaction Between the Viewer and Space Take Shape in Erkmen’s Practice?
In Ayşe Erkmen’s practice, the physical conditions of the environment to which the artist is invited serve as the starting point. The artist reposition existing structures in her own distinctive style, prompting the viewer to
reflect on the space itself. Erkmen states, “I want everything I do to be perceived as a sculpture,” yet her practice cannot be defined by any particular material or form;
her works are the result of the spaces she engages with and the gestures she has developed over the years. The exhibition
spaces are like playgrounds that draw on the history and/or architectural features of the space to create sculptural moments, encounters, situations, and objects. “A space
Persistence can still be seen at Dirimart London from September 9 to October 4, 2025.
