Lot 136: Nazif Topcuoglu (Turkish, b.1953)

Nazif Topcuoglu (Turkish, b.1953)
Lamentations (From New World Series)
signed, dated 2007 and numbered 3/5 (on a label affixed to the reverse)
digital C print mounted on foam board
48 x 71.in (121.9 x 180.1cm.)
Executed in 2007; this work is number three from an edition of five

In Nazif Topcuoglu's intriguing works you see a combination of dramatic lighting and structured composition which gives them a Caravagesque sense of theatre, juxtaposed with his signature choice of 'actors', always girls and young women, often caught inunusual situations. The effect is voyeuristic and more than slightly unsettling, and ambiguous in message, reinforcing or undermining gender stereotypes.