Lot 16: NAZIF TOPCUOGLU

NAZIF TOPCUOGLU B. 1953 TRIPTYCH Each: signed, titled, dated 2009 and numbered 4/5 on a label affixed to the reverse Digital C-print mounted on foam-board in artist's frame, in three parts each: 180 by 120cm.; 70 7/8 by 47 1/4 in. overall: 180 by 360cm.; 70 7/8 by 141 3/4 in. EXECUTED IN 2009, THIS WORK IS NUMBER 4 FROM AN EDITION OF 5, PLUS 2 ARTIST'S PROOFS.

Dubai, Green Art Gallery, Consolation, 2009-2010, another example exhibited

Fast becoming one of the most internationally recognised Turkish artists, with his distinctive staged female-dominated scenes, Nazif Topcuoglu continues to disturb and beguile in equal measure. Triptych is truly a masterpiece.

Traditionally drawing on the Old Testament and Old Master Paintings for his inspiration, in Triptych Topcuoglu emphasizes that he turns instead to Francis Bacon, and his tortured twentieth-century figures. An unusual muse considering that Bacon's work has so much to do with the masculine, and yet not quite so curious when considering that both artists are obsessed with the in-between.

Where once Topcuoglu celebrated the ingenuousness of youth, he has shifted his focus to that uneasy time of change, the teenage years. Trapped between childhood and adulthood, the characters in his narrative are waging a war of independence both within and without. Just as it is in the school's arena, in Triptych the elemental split between cliques of girls is evident, described by the artist as groups of 'conformists and non-conformists', the conformists stand behind high banks of technical equipment silently judging the fierce tussle of the non-conformists.

Enthralled by the idea of maturity and its associated loss of innocence Triptych is symbolic of the struggle that is 'coming-of-age'. Topcuoglu is a master of production, and this polished photograph highlights the dissonance of this period by cultivating a sense of unease with stark lighting and intimidating staging.

The sheer scale of this work, coupled with its striking emotional impact truly makes Triptych Topcuoglu's most significant work to date.