“Aldous in Istanbul” at Marlusse et Lapin, 14 Rue Germain Pilon, Paris, 18eme (from 13 November to 10 December 2008) is an exhibition of 29 of the 36 paintings on photographs I have made so far for a film in collaboration with two young, French film-maker friends of mine, Gilles Blaize and Julien Tréfouël. The film is called “Dreaming Istanbul” and is to be shown in Istanbul, Turkey in 2010 when Istanbul has been nominated as European City of Culture.

Gilles and Julien have almost finished the editing of the film and are waiting for me to paint the last 15 images before handing the film over to the fourth member of our team, the composer Dryden Hawkins, for the soundtrack.

A cinematic montage in seven movements weaving a narrative out of several storylines, “Dreaming Istanbul” effortlessly integrates different realities, perceptions and genres into its flow. As a travelogue, it is a richly illuminating, visual essay on Istanbul. At the same time, it looks behind the scenes to show the making of the film itself, bringing the crew into the picture, while also being a documentary showing my practice as an artist – to explore a city on foot, drawing and sketching constantly, and afterwards to paint what I call “dubbed photographs” onto the background of still photographs of the places I have visited. [Read more…]