Acid Rock, 1982
, 4 min 9 s, colour, sound

Courtesy of Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), New York

Since the end of the 1970s Dara Birnbaum has been making videos and installations in different formats with which she tries to recontextualise and subvert the icons of pop culture and the mass- media archetypes related to the consumer society and television. This is why her works sometimes take the form of telefilms, soap operas, sports programmes, publicity spots or music videos, into which she inserts subtexts that critically deconstruct the underlying ideology of the images. This is the approach taken in Acid Rock, a video made in 1982 for Documenta 7 in Kassel, during the period when the MTV music video channel flourished and had most influence in the American music industry. Dara Birnbaum recomposes the Doors’ song L.A. Woman and appropriates elements from advertising as though they were ready-mades, turning them into a feminist and anti-consumer tirade criticising the sexism of television advertising.

Joseph Beuys

Joseph Beuys

Dara Birnbaum

Dara Birnbaum

John Sanborn, Kit Fitzgerald (Antarctica)

John Sanborn, Kit Fitzgerald (Antarctica)

Pipilotti Rist

Pipilotti Rist

Bjørn Melhus

Bjørn Melhus

Charley Case

Charley Case

Olaf Breuning

Olaf Breuning

Cheryl Donegan

Cheryl Donegan

Ana Laura Aláez

Ana Laura Aláez

Marc Bijl

Marc Bijl

Carles Congost

Carles Congost

Joan Morey

Joan Morey

 Adel Abidin

Adel Abidin

Hugo Alonso

Hugo Alonso

Charles Atlas

Charles Atlas

Jesús Hernández

Jesús Hernández

César Pesquera

César Pesquera

Jorge Galindo and Santiago Sierra

Jorge Galindo and Santiago Sierra

Blurred Reminiscences  <br>Andra Ursuta

Blurred Reminiscences
Andra Ursuta

Pera Museum, in collaboration with Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), is one of the main venues for this year’s 15th Istanbul Biennial from 16 September to 12 November 2017. Through the biennial, we will be sharing detailed information about the artists and the artworks. 

Medicinal Herbs in Byzantium

Medicinal Herbs in Byzantium

Knowledge of plants and the practice of healing are closely entwined. The toxic or hallucinogenic nature of some roots, and the dangers associated with picking them, conferred a mythical or magical character and power. 

Cameria (Mihrimah Sultan)

Cameria (Mihrimah Sultan)

Based on similar examples by the European painters in various collections, this work is one of the portraits of Mihrimah Sultan, who was depicted rather often in the 16th century.