Rome, the legend and metamorphosis of Guzey

Solemn silhouettes, spread across space and made of charred wooden panels, representing legend and metamorphosis, provide a continuing reminder of classicism. This is the spirit that surrounds the work of the Turkish artist, Ender Guzey, which are displayed in an exhibition entitled "Nato del fuoco" (Born of fire), which opened yesterday evening at Palazzo della Cancelleria in Rome. The exhibition, which has been organised to co-incide with the 40th anniversary of Guzey's activity, provides a visual and symbolic journey inspired by mythology. "Guzey favours the original phase in which Gods would err without a motherland and when the great Zeus is depicted as a beast, a completely animalistic being," explains the curator, Gino Rossi. The thirty or so works ensure a conflict between positive and negative, between the empty and the full. Born in Istanbul in 1951, Guzey trained as a painter and sculptor at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, and has held exhibitions in Germany, Turkey, Holland, Malaysia, Greece and France, among other countries. His 40 years of activity have allowed him to occupy a prime position in the analysis of the evolution of Turkey's artistic landscape. "Since the 1960s there have been very few galleries in Turkey, and the foreign ones were little known in the country," Guzey tells ANSAmed. The last ten years, however, have made a difference. "Today contemporary Turkish artists are internationally renowned and the major foreign galleries have a presence in Turkey, especially in Istanbul, where the Biennale has allowed our artists to gain even greater recognition from foreign audiences". The exhibition runs until June 17.(ANSAmed).