Time is a Child: Alice Guittard, Ayça Telgeren, Burcu Yağcıoğlu, Elif Uras, Evgenia Vereli, Kostis Velonis, Lara Ögel, Malvina Panagiotidi, Maria Joannou, Martin Creed, Merve İşeri, Nazım Ünal Yılmaz, Nil Yalter, Nuri Kuzucan, Rashid al Khalifa, Savvas Laz, Serkan Özkaya,

Galerist and Perasma proudly present ‘Time is a Child’, a group exhibition that will take place on the Island of Leros, Greece between 9th and 30th of July 2023. Taking its name from the words attributed to Heraclitus: “Time is a child playing draughts by the sea”, an expression defining his perception of the fleeting and ever-changing nature of time, the exhibition brings together works by artists who reflect on the ceaseless possibilities inherent to the concept of time.

Just as John Keats marvels at the timelessness of the images on a Greek vase in his famous poem, ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’, the exhibition presents itself as a snapshot of a moment in this unpredictable passage, of a constant flux that is continuously slipping away. ‘Time is a Child’ tries to record a moment of halt in time that will never come again.

The eloquent lines of the poem ponder on the scenes depicted on the urn and they imagine the potential experiences of the preserved figures which are endless as long as they are not realised. Human, the fleeting passenger of this unyielding journey is but a frozen image on the urn. The work of art stands as a testament, the object becomes a tribute to the resilience of all that is animate and inanimate.

Leros, one of the Dodecanese Islands, just a stone’s throw from the mainland of Turkey; so connected yet nonchalant, moving in its own pace just as an island does, was under Italian occupation for decades and it played a crucial role during the World War II. The structure of the island, constructed by the fascist regime, serves as a tangible reminder of the island’s rich past and the memories intricately woven around the columns, arches, walls, stones, sand and the water embracing it. ‘Time is a Child’ takes place on the small shore of the Koulouki bay in Lakki, in and around the structure constructed in the 1930’s by the Italian Navy for mine storage and currently serving as the Nautical Club of Leros.

Works by Alice Guittard, Ayça Telgeren, Burcu Yağcıoğlu, Elif Uras, Evgenia Vereli, Kostis Velonis, Lara Ögel, Malvina Panagiotidi, Maria Joannou, Martin Creed, Merve İşeri, Nazım Ünal Yılmaz, Nil Yalter, Nuri Kuzucan, Rashid al Khalifa, Savvas Laz, Serkan Özkaya, Serra Duran, Silva Bingaz, Stefania Strouza, William Kentridge, Yeşim Akdeniz and Yusuf Sevinçli are brought together within the building, and they gush out to its outdoor area nesting in between the eucalyptus and pine trees surrounding it.

Galerist and Perasma would like to thank the kind supporters Vienna Contemporary, Atelier Rebul, and Minval, as well as Aegeas, Beylerbeyi, Miller, Ethnicloom, Pascal Jolivet, Piccini, Tepta, Persan and Jotun for their helpin the realising of ‘Time is a Child’.