Suzan Batu - Pleasure Principle

November 29, 2007

November 2007

Suzan Batu’s exhibition, “Pleasure Principle,” at The Phatory presents a selection of new paintings that construe the arabesque into a lyrical art form with traces of cartoons painted in acid candy colors while simultaneously transforming this legendary script into a new kind of worldly icon. Reaching back to her Ottoman Turkish roots, Batu dismantles the word-and-image function of Islamic calligraphy and portrays it as an undulating motif that move diagonally across each picture plane. The artist describes her work as a series of gestural scribbles that aim to capture a pre-literal moment of free flowing yet conscious allusions to Middle Eastern graphic traditions.

Batu received her B.F.A. at the California College of the Arts in Oakland and her MFA at Brooklyn College in New York City, before recently returning to live and work in Istanbul while continuing to exhibit internationally. Her unique interpretations upon a legendary Islamic imagery remind us that art speaks an endless evolving dialogue with its viewers.