Artist: Elif Saydam
Exhibition title: F*rgiveness
Venue: Tanya Leighton, Berlin, Germany
Date: April 30 – June 25, 2022
Photography: Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin and Los Angeles. Photography: Gunter Lepkowski
Her toes are nobody else’s business but her own and she wakes
up not knowing where she is.
Lavender citrus some chamomile floral jasmine herbaceous
cedar something earthy and warm the calmness of an
intellectual home a handmade metal chime on the ceiling ah the
chime an equally beautiful home another couple their identical
metal chime their mental divorce walking without walking away
She sees something moving very fast, so fast that she does not
recognise what it is, if it is anything it must be a hummingbird.
A good day today so was yesterday so was the day before
yesterday so was the day before the body ah the body ah the
aching body a black leather jacket a pair of shoulder pads bra
full bra free a strolling black cat in a slow motion a half bitten
nicotine chewing gum a tongue cope cope and hope five
alphabets apart the handsome duo
She turns the corner on the street of the intellectual house and
that is where she sees the hummingbird. The cool evening air
and her faux leather gloves. The hill is like her belly slightly
permanently raised. If she is lucky she will be able to see the
bloody sun.
– Bob Kil
Elif Saydam (born in 1985 in Calgary, Canada) lives and works in Berlin. Recent solo exhibitions include ‘…schläft sich durch’ at Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof, Hamburg in 2021; ‘Everybody’s Fool’ at Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, Munich, ‘Gut feeling’ at Tanya Leighton, Berlin, and ‘Selfing’ at Melange, Cologne, all in 2020. Their work has been included in group exhibitions at Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland; Landes-Stiftung Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck, Bonn; Künstlerhaus Schloss Balmoral, Bad Ems, Germany; Kunstverein Nürnberg – Albrecht Dürer Gesellschaft, Nuremberg, and MMK Museum for Modern Art, Frankfurt am Main. Saydam’s work is held in the Public Collection of Contemporary Art of the Republic of Germany. As the recipient of the 2020 Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Stiftung “Catalogue for Young Artists” award, a monograph titled ‘Elif Saydam: TWO CENTS’ will be published by Mousse Publishing (Italy), released in April 2022. The book launch will be celebrated with an afternoon of readings at Hopscotch, Berlin on the last day of ‘F*rgiveness’, Saturday 25 June 2022.
Elif Saydam, Installation view, ‘F*rgiveness’, Tanya Leighton, Kurfürstenstraße 24/25, Berlin. 29 April – 25 June 2022. Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin and Los Angeles. Photography: Gunter Lepkowski
Elif Saydam, Installation view, ‘F*rgiveness’, Tanya Leighton, Kurfürstenstraße 24/25, Berlin. 29 April – 25 June 2022. Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin and Los Angeles. Photography: Gunter Lepkowski
Elif Saydam, Installation view, ‘F*rgiveness’, Tanya Leighton, Kurfürstenstraße 24/25, Berlin. 29 April – 25 June 2022. Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin and Los Angeles. Photography: Gunter Lepkowski
Elif Saydam, Installation view, ‘F*rgiveness’, Tanya Leighton, Kurfürstenstraße 24/25, Berlin. 29 April – 25 June 2022. Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin and Los Angeles. Photography: Gunter Lepkowski
Elif Saydam, Installation view, ‘F*rgiveness’, Tanya Leighton, Kurfürstenstraße 24/25, Berlin. 29 April – 25 June 2022. Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin and Los Angeles. Photography: Gunter Lepkowski
Elif Saydam, Installation view, ‘F*rgiveness’, Tanya Leighton, Kurfürstenstraße 24/25, Berlin. 29 April – 25 June 2022. Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin and Los Angeles. Photography: Gunter Lepkowski
Elif Saydam, Installation view, ‘F*rgiveness’, Tanya Leighton, Kurfürstenstraße 24/25, Berlin. 29 April – 25 June 2022. Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin and Los Angeles. Photography: Gunter Lepkowski
Elif Saydam, Forced Intimacy, 2022, Laminated inkjet prints, plastic bags, steel fixture, zinc plated rings, 312×765×4 cm, 1227⁄8×3011⁄8×15⁄8 in, Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin and Los Angeles. Photography: Gunter Lepkowski
Elif Saydam, Forced Intimacy, 2022, Laminated inkjet prints, plastic bags, steel fixture, zinc plated rings, 312×765×4 cm, 1227⁄8×3011⁄8×15⁄8 in, Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin and Los Angeles. Photography: Gunter Lepkowski
Elif Saydam, Forced Intimacy, 2022, Laminated inkjet prints, plastic bags, steel fixture, zinc plated rings, 312×765×4 cm, 1227⁄8×3011⁄8×15⁄8 in, Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin and Los Angeles. Photography: Gunter Lepkowski
Elif Saydam, Forced Intimacy, 2022, Laminated inkjet prints, plastic bags, steel fixture, zinc plated rings, 312×765×4 cm, 1227⁄8×3011⁄8×15⁄8 in, Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin and Los Angeles. Photography: Gunter Lepkowski
Elif Saydam, Forced Intimacy, 2022, Laminated inkjet prints, plastic bags, steel fixture, zinc plated rings, 312×765×4 cm, 1227⁄8×3011⁄8×15⁄8 in, Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin and Los Angeles. Photography: Gunter Lepkowski
Elif Saydam, Forced Intimacy, 2022, Laminated inkjet prints, plastic bags, steel fixture, zinc plated rings, 312×765×4 cm, 1227⁄8×3011⁄8×15⁄8 in, Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin and Los Angeles. Photography: Gunter Lepkowski
Elif Saydam, Alles Gute aka Trying to Love thru Grief, 2022, Inkjet transfer and oil on linen, 119×84 cm, 467⁄8×331⁄8 in,Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin and Los Angeles. Photography: Gunter Lepkowski
Elif Saydam, Alles Muss Raus aka Just Another Asshole’s Shopping Basket, 2022, 23k gold, pure silver, inkjet transfer and oil on linen, 119×84 cm, 467⁄8×331⁄8 in. Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin and Los Angeles. Photography: Gunter Lepkowski
Elif Saydam, Sleeplessness with Brian aka Baroque Burnout, 2019–2022, 23k gold, copper, inkjet transfer, dye and oil on hand-stitched canvas and linen, 200×230 cm, 783⁄4×901⁄2 in. Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin and Los Angeles. Photography: Gunter Lepkowski
Elif Saydam, Sleeplessness with Brian aka Baroque Burnout, 2019–2022, 23k gold, copper, inkjet transfer, dye and oil on hand-stitched canvas and linen, 200×230 cm, 783⁄4×901⁄2 in. Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin and Los Angeles. Photography: Gunter Lepkowski
Elif Saydam, Sleeplessness with Bob aka Death Sonata, 2019–2022, 23k gold, copper, inkjet transfer, dye and oil on hand-stitched canvas and linen, 200×230 cm, 783⁄4×901⁄2 in. Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin and Los Angeles. Photography: Gunter Lepkowski
Elif Saydam, Sleeplessness with Bob aka Death Sonata, 2019–2022, 23k gold, copper, inkjet transfer, dye and oil on hand-stitched canvas and linen, 200×230 cm, 783⁄4×901⁄2 in. Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin and Los Angeles. Photography: Gunter Lepkowski
Elif Saydam, Sleeplessness with Lindsey aka Lamentations on Productivity, to be Blunt, 2019–2022, 23k gold, copper, inkjet transfer, dye and oil on hand-stitched canvas and linen, 200×230 cm, 783⁄4×901⁄2 in. Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin and Los Angeles. Photography: Gunter Lepkowski
Elif Saydam, Sleeplessness with Lindsey aka Lamentations on Productivity, to be Blunt, 2019–2022, 23k gold, copper, inkjet transfer, dye and oil on hand-stitched canvas and linen, 200×230 cm, 783⁄4×901⁄2 in. Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin and Los Angeles. Photography: Gunter Lepkowski
Elif Saydam, Alles Fantasy aka Meet me Later or Never, Really, 2022, 23k gold, inkjet transfer and oil on linen, 119×84 cm, 467⁄8×331⁄8 in. Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin and Los Angeles. Photography: Gunter Lepkowski
Elif Saydam, Alles Mashallah aka Loverboy Protects me from Evil by Scenting my Entire Apartment with Saffron, 2022, 23k gold, inkjet transfer and oil on linen, 119×84 cm, 467⁄8×331⁄8 in. Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin and Los Angeles. Photography: Gunter Lepkowski
Elif Saydam, Alles Sauber aka on a Good Day I send my Heartfelt Condolences to Nearly Every Person on this Planet, 2022, 23k gold, inkjet transfer and oil on linen, 119×84 cm, 467⁄8×331⁄8 in. Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin and Los Angeles. Photography: Gunter Lepkowski