Ribbon Mania

Burhan Doğançay American, born Turkey
dated 1982
Not on view
Inspired by the graffiti- and poster-covered walls of New York City in the 1960s, the Turkish-born artist Burhan Doğançay mined the expressive possibilities of street art over his half century-long career. The paintings in "Ribbons," a series he made between 1972 and 1989, are trompe-l’oeil collages, in which forms evocative of ribbons or slashed and torn paper seem to break through the plane of a wall and project into our space. In "Ribbon Mania" of 1982, the play of light and shade created by the painted forms and their cast shadows against a pale gray ground underscore the illusion of three-dimensionality. While the markings on the canvas at once suggest posters peeling from a wall, Doğançay’s “Ribbons" also recalls Islamic calligraphy.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Ribbon Mania
  • Artist: Burhan Doğançay (American, born Turkey, Istanbul 1929–2013 Istanbul)
  • Date: dated 1982
  • Geography: Made in Turkey
  • Medium: Acrylic on canvas
  • Dimensions: Not framed.
    H. 60 in. (152.4 cm)
    W. 60 in. (152.4 cm)
    D. 1 1/8 in. (2.9 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Gift of Benjamin Kaufmann, 2011
  • Object Number: 2011.583
  • Rights and Reproduction: © Estate of Burhan Doğançay
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

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