In between of 14 September and 14 October 2007, the exhibition “Swimmers”, to be held at Pg Art Gallery, will mark the artist’s first encounter with audiences in Turkey. The artist finds her own artistic expression in the words of Henri Matisse, who believed that art should stay away from sorrowful or distressing subjects and instead offer peace and happiness, much like a tranquilizer. By stepping outside the negative and unhappy events that permeate daily life, she aims to evoke feelings of hope through her works.
Based in New York, Ayşe Wilson was raised in Boston and graduated from Wellesley College. Having embraced classical academic training and traditional painting techniques, she continued her artistic practice in Italy and Canada. After completing her Master’s degree at the New York Academy of Art in 2004, she worked for two years as an assistant to one of the masters of contemporary art, Jeff Koons. Major works such as “Play-Doh” from Koons’s Celebration series—exhibited at Gagosian Gallery, London, in June 2007—as well as works from the Incredible Hulk–Elvis series, were completed during the period in which Wilson assisted Koons.
This assistantship holds a significant place in Ayşe Wilson’s artistic career. During this time, she moved beyond her rigid academic background and the hyperrealism characteristic of Koons’s work, developing her own distinctive artistic language. Works from this period were also acquired for the contemporary painting collections of Peter Brant and Stephanie Seymour.
Angel Swimmers
Interested in female forms from an expressionist and impressionist perspective—particularly the relationship between posture, movement, and the physical and psychological states of the body—the artist draws her primary inspiration from the emotional and serene qualities of religious paintings of the Renaissance. Ayşe Wilson perceives the swimmer image as a metaphor for life itself, believing that the dualities of life closely correspond to this image.
Containing soft, soothing, and even sensual elements within an active and athletic identity, the swimmer figure comes to life in the phrase “you either swim or you sink.” Swimming thus becomes synonymous with struggling against life’s hardships. It sometimes means navigating through the waters of life: some learn to swim quickly, some sink a little but manage to recover, some struggle endlessly in the water, and some, unfortunately, drown.
Regarding the “Angel Swimmers” series, the artist states:
“Angel Swimmers tells the story that as long as you do not lose your optimism despite all the hardships and deprivations life brings, and as long as you make a sincere effort to stay afloat, the angels—whoever or whatever they may be—will not abandon you.”
