Exhibition
THE MINE
BARIŞ GÖKTÜRK
29.08-30.11.2025
Fırın
Barış Göktürk’s Solo Exhibition The Mine Opens at Eldem Art Space | Fırın
‘The meerschaum story consists of a series of missing links. Where it comes from is not where it is: Vienna-Eskişehir. Its name is not what it is: Seafoam. The stone's inherent contradictions are also to be noted: it is both soft and hard. It is resistant to high temperatures yet dissolves in water. The carvings are no different: While the Viennese carve imperial, orientalist, sometimes racist, but always Eurocentric forms, Anatolian artisans carve “sultan heads” and whatever their contemporary customers desire, be it Lord of the Rings or an American Civil War soldier.’
Eskişehir, Turkey — August 29, 2025 — Eldem Art Space | Fırın is pleased to announce The Mine, a solo exhibition by New York–based, Turkey-born artist Barış Göktürk, opening on Friday, August 29, and on view through November 30, 2025.
The exhibition offers a conceptual exploration of Eskişehir’s iconic meerschaum mining and craftsmanship, the fluid histories between Europe and Anatolia, and the socio-cultural dynamics that continue to shape the region.
Initiated in 2018, when Göktürk first encountered meerschaum miners and descended into a mine, The Mine evolved into a multilayered project tracing the stone’s journey from its raw underground form to its transformation into image. The works question ruptures in this process, the socio-economic alienations of labor, and the legal thresholds that define when a material is considered “raw” or an “artwork.”
Developed during Eldem Art Space’s two-month residency program, supported by the SAHA Sustainability Fund, The Mine comprises three sections of drawings, sculptures, and video installations, and culminates in a hybrid publication serving both as an artist’s book and an exhibition catalogue.
Engaging with miners, artisans, local communities, and cultural institutions, Göktürk positions meerschaum within a contemporary art framework—offering new perspectives on a material that has until now been largely examined through academic or touristic lenses.
Barış Göktürk’s solo exhibition The Mine is realized with production support from EKSAV, Otrera, and Hitay Foundation.
Barış Göktürk lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. After graduating from Galatasaray High School in Istanbul, he received his BA from The New School in New York, his MFA in Painting from Hunter College, and his MFA in Sculpture from Columbia University. He currently teaches at both The New School and Columbia University.
Göktürk’s recent museum projects and exhibitions include the Jewish Museum in New York, the Frost Museum in Miami, SECCA in Winston-Salem, and the Pera Museum in Istanbul. He has also produced commissioned works for Columbia University’s Butler Library and Public Art Fund in New York. His solo exhibition Public Secret was presented at Helena Anrather Gallery in New York in the fall of 2020.
His work has been shown across the United States and internationally in Germany, Spain, France, China, South Korea, Croatia, Turkey, and Puerto Rico. Göktürk’s practice has been featured in Artforum, BOMB Magazine, and The Brooklyn Rail. He has participated in residencies and fellowships including ApexArt Seoul, Yaddo, SOMA Mexico, and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. He currently leads an art program for the Department of Neurology at Johns Hopkins University and is the co-founder of Junte, a cultural project based in Puerto Rico.
CREDITS
Cinematography: Çavgın Çınkıt - Medya Pan
Editing: Eli Kasavi
Animation: Emin Bakan
Risograph Print: Printkipo
Meerschaum Artisan: Cumhur Sarı
Exhibition furniture: Recep Yıldız
Installation Crew: Taha Düzler, Ülkü Usta, Sude Tanır, Samet Özer, Beste Evkaya
Special thanks to:
İsmail Kumru, Serkan Özkan, Osman Özkan, Hatice Özkan, Osman Özkan, Mürsel Karaca, Mehmet Dinç, Emre Mangaltepe, Behçethan Aktaş, Ahmet Çetin, Sami Tekin, Satılmış Kuşçu, Süleyman Eleren, Mustafa Keleş