Ates Isildak
mtn space gallery is pleased to announce Pantransitions, a survey of visual work by the West Palm Beach-based artist Ates Isildak. Inspired by gender fluidity, sexual ambiguity, and intersectionality, Isildak works across various media to spark a celebration of what was once taboo, exuberantly express marginalized communities, and ultimately flout repression.
On view will be the complete body of Isildak’s Polaroid photography, including imagery from his portrait series, Practicing our own magic, summoning only ourselves, as well as candid fetish and experimental works. These will be displayed alongside a series of the artist’s well-known digital portraiture, in which Isildak uses color manipulation to capture and subvert conventional expressions of beauty and sexuality.
Isildak’s video collaboration Fabulous Muscles, featuring Roger Jackson and Kevin Laurore, will be on view for the duration of the exhibition. Referencing a song of the same name by American experimental band Xiu Xiu, Fabulous Muscles is an attempt to capture the experience of the male gaze toward BIPOC while grappling with the artist’s role behind the camera.
Pantransitions will also debut Isildak’s newest series of photo experimentations: warped visions of earth, heaven, hell, and South Florida — a direct comment on the dangers of blurring the lines between church and state.
Ates Isildak is a recipient of the 2019-20 South Florida Cultural Consortium, and received third place in the South Florida Cultural Council’s 2021 Biennial. He recently premiered an Art in Public Places documentary at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach. In addition to the Norton, his work has been shown at NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale; Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami; Spectrum Miami; and the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County. His video work has been featured by Medium, Troma, Spin, FLOOD Magazine, Office Magazine, Consequence of Sound, and VICE.
A reception will be held Saturday, September 16th from 6-8pm, featuring live music by Night Foundation. Night Foundation is the electronic solo project of visual artist Richard Vergez. It explores existential soundscapes, utilizing analogue hardware including vintage synthesizers, amplified objects, tape effects, and manipulated wind instruments. His most current release is a collaborative record with experimental vocalist Little Annie.
Pantransitions will open on September 16 and will run through November 4.