Özlem Günyol & Mustafa Kunt
Ratatataa
This publication is dedicated to the impressive and groundbreaking exhibition Ratatataa by the artist duo Özlem Günyol & Mustafa Kunt and presents around 30 outstanding works created between 2008 and the present. Their works are precisely formulated, visually pointed questions about state structures, language, and identity: In Flag-s (2009), for example, they superimpose the flags of all nations onto a black surface, thus questioning the power of representative symbols. Günyol and Kunt challenge us to critically reflect on the current challenges facing our society. The artist duo has been working together in Frankfurt am Main since 2007. Their projects have received numerous awards, most recently the HAP Grieshaber Prize in 2017.
Hardcover
20,5 x 26,5 cm
224 pages
262 color illustrations
English, German
ISBN 978-3-96900-226-12025
Artist:
Editor:
Stefanie Patruno
Texts:
Duygu Demir, Jörg Heiser, Stefanie Patruno and Interview by Stefanie Patruno with Özlem Günyol and Mustafa Kunt
Design:
Sabine Hahn
Published by Kehrer Verlag
First major institutional solo exhibition of the artist duo Özlem Günyol & Mustafa Kunt in Germany
With RATATATAA, the Städtische Galerie Karlsruhe presents the first major institutional solo exhibition of Özlem Günyol & Mustafa Kunt in Germany. The onomatopoeic, provocatively ener- getic title points to the central themes of the exhibition and its accompanying publication: sound, language, and symbol as carriers of social power structures. The artistic principle of the duo Günyol & Kunt lies in the quiet staging of socially critical questi- ons. With subtle humor and analytical precision, they expose mechanisms of power, representation, identity, and belonging— reducing complex themes to an aesthetic minimum. Transfor- mation, repetition, and superimposition are recurring themes throughout the exhibition, whose 30 works were created between 2008 and 2025.
Central to their work is a focus on public space—understood both as a physical site and as a discursive field where collective memories and power structures are negotiated.
The installation Free Solo (2019–2025)—also featured on the co- ver of the book—draws on structures in public spaces. The title of the work not only alludes to the most dangerous form of clim- bing: Günyol & Kunt translate details of numerous statues and monuments in Frankfurt, Istanbul, Çanakkale, and Karlsruhe into real climbing holds and invite visitors to actively explore the wall. The work does not originate in sport, but in the collective impulse to take over public space and climb monuments during celebrations or social unrest.
The fact that Günyol & Kunt do not work with neutral materials, but deliberately use charged objects and symbols, is evident in their works devoted to the themes of migration and flight. In That which remains… (2017), traces of Aegean seawater crystallized on watercolor paper can be seen forming terms such as »Life,« »Equality,« and »Movement.« In the context of the 2016 EU-Turkey agreement, these excerpts from the Declaration of Human Rights become silent references to the discrepancy between aspiration and reality in the refugee crisis. Özlem Günyol (*1977) and Mustafa Kunt (*1978) grew up in Turkey and have been working in Frankfurt am Main since 2007. After studying art at Hacettepe University in Ankara, they continued their education at the Städelschule in Frankfurt—Özlem Günyol with Ayşe Erkmen, Mustafa Kunt with Wolfgang Tillmans. Their work has received numerous awards, including the H. W. & J. Hector Art Prize (2009) and the HAP Grieshaber Prize from VG Bild-Kunst (2017).
