Erkan Özgen's 'Giving Voices' at Fundació Antoni Tàpies juxtaposes political works with video testimonies

Erkan Özgen's solo exhibition 'Giving Voices' at Fundació Antoni Tàpies in Barcelona runs from 13 November 2018 to 24 February 2019, marking his first solo show in Spain. The exhibition coincides with a rehanging of Antoni Tàpies's political works created under Franco's dictatorship, fulfilling a suggestion Tàpies made in 2009 during Özgen's Barcelona residency that they exhibit together, though Tàpies died in 2012. Özgen's work includes video pieces like 'Purple Muslin' (2018), a 16-minute documentary on Yazidi refugees in northern Iraq fleeing ISIS persecution, featuring interviews with women discussing displacement and depression. Another video, 'Wonderland' (2016), shows a deaf Syrian child miming atrocities experienced before escape, highlighting non-verbal communication of trauma. 'Aesthetics of Weapons' (2018) portrays a Turkish policeman eroticizing his firearm, revealing complex psychological aspects of state violence. The exhibition explores shared themes of giving voice to witnessed violence, contrasting Tàpies's abstract 'matter paintings' with Özgen's documentary-style videos to reflect on conflict's psychological impact.