Lot 20: HALE TENGER

HALE TENGER B. 1960 TURKISH DELIGHT signed, dated Fenice 03 and numbered 4/8 on the underside ceramic glaze on majolica terracotta 19 by 14.5 by 8cm.; 7 1/2 by 5 3/4 by 3 1/8 in.

Albisola, Attese: Biennale of Ceramics in Contemporary Art (Second Edition), 2003, pp. 243-245, illustrated in colour
Istanbul, Galerist, Recalls - Reminders, 2007, another example exhibited
New York, LTMH Gallery, Istanbul Cool!, 2010, another example exhibited

Ahu Antmen, Stranger Within, Istanbul 2007, p. 10, illustrated in colour

Hale Tenger studied ceramics at the Istanbul Fine Arts Academy and she has used clay only once in her artistic career for Turkish Delight. The work is based on the figure of Priapos, the Anatolian god of fertility, which was originally found in Ephesus, Turkey. He was depicted as a dwarfish man and his most distinctive feature was his erect male organ.

Tenger had used Priapos in her early work, I Know People Like This II (1992) as a commentary on a world dominated by men. Later on, Priapos came to symbolize power in itself, most significantly in Turkish Delight. The sculpture is decorated with an Iznik palette of cobalt blue and turquoise with floral designs reminiscent of the famous Ottoman tiles of the factories of Iznik which at the height of the Ottoman Empire in 16th century was among the most prized art forms under the patronage of the Ottoman court. Intrigued by the history of humanity and its evolution, this sculpture is Tenger's brilliant critique of the progress of civilizations over thousands of years, with no change in the hiearchy of genders.