Logarithmic Growth

Murat Palta

05 January - 18 February 2023

Creating an idiosyncratic style through a blend of the traditional and the contemporary by synthesizing the art of classical miniature and elements of popular culture, Murat Palta’s fourth solo exhibition Logarithmic Growth is hosted by x-ist. Palta strengthens the enchanted nature of miniature by placing anachronism at the center of his storytelling. In this exhibition, he renders himself in the third person singular, taking off from the depiction of scenes through an all-seeing eye as one of the styles in miniature, and makes deductions about the planet we live on.

The exhibition is named after a graphic that is based on microbiological experiences conducted on various bacteria and has been adapted to human life. Palta associates the current situation of our planet with the phase of logarithmic growth during which food becomes scarce, exhaust gasses increase in temperature, and the compilation of other waste that leads to toxicity. The artist finds it striking to look at the experiment container from our little world on the other end of the lens and to be able to see our own humanity in it. He also believes that this experiment has a similar intellectual framework as his own works.

The artist describes his works, ranging from classical arts of illumination and miniature to traditional art of tile-making and sculpting, which puts up a mirror against current times, as nightmares seen by a miniature artist living today.

For Logarithmic Growth, Murat Palta depicts these nightmares in which popular culture, historical events, mythology, and current developments are intertwined. The exhibition can be visited at x-ist between January 5 and February 18.