OMM – Odunpazarı Modern Museum launched the highly anticipated Creatures of Comfort exhibition on Sunday, September 8, 2024. Celebrating OMM’s 5th anniversary, the exhibition is curated by İdil Tabanca and showcases a collection of contemporary works and fantastical designs. Bringing together international artists and designers, ‘Creatures of Comfort’ masterfully breaks traditional boundaries in painting, sculpture, installation, and furniture design, while redefining the relationship between form and function.
In the 21st century, where modern humans spend three-quarters of their lives indoors and nature feels ever-distant, “Creatures of Comfort” showcases artworks that invite nature back into our urban lives. The featured artists infuse their creations with natural elements and humane qualities, imbuing functional objects with soul.
The selection features artists and designers Ahmet Doğu İpek, Andrea Branzi, Audrey Large, Barbora Žilinskaitė, Batten and Kamp, Bertrand Fompeyrine, Charlotte Kingsnorth, Chris Wolston, Elissa Lacoste, Studio Klarenbeek & Dros, Faye Hadfield, Gaetano Pesce, Guido Casaretto, Guillermo Santomà, Hannah Levy, Karl Monies, Linde Freya Tangelder, Mamali Shafahi, Marc Quinn, Max Lamb, Melih Çebi, Mesut Öztürk, Misha Kahn, Odd Matter, Roman Babakhanian, Saelia Aparicio, Schimmel & Schweikle, Serban Ionescu, Sigve Knutson, Slavs & Tatars, Studio EO, Studio Yellowdot, Süper Normal, Thomas Barger, touche—touche, VAUST, Wang & Söderström, and Willem Van Hoff. These artists from various generations draw inspiration from nature and the human body to revive everyday objects. OMM visitors will encounter artworks that are in harmony with Mother Nature made of raw wood, rough rock, and soil, creatively integrating fundamental elements of terrestrial life.
The damage caused by technology, overpopulation, climate change, and pandemics has led to a collective longing for simpler times, forming the core theme of this exhibition: a postmodern nostalgia for nature and its complex beings. Despite the prevailing influence of Bauhaus and its offshoots on modern furniture, “Creatures of Comfort” unites unconventional and whimsical furniture designs enriched with natural elements.
Household items hold a significant place in the exhibition as cultural windows that help us understand the people experiencing a particular time and place. These domestic objects shed light on human needs, beliefs, technological developments, ideals, and fantasies, revealing the evolution of human condition and form.
The exhibition explores how wind, rain, heat, and time shape nature, emphasizing the significant role of these natural elements adapted to modern life, in shaping our world “Creatures of Comfort” can be visited at OMM – Odunpazarı Modern Museum until 25 July 2025.
Press release from OMM – Odunpazarı Modern Museum
Image: Installation view of Creatures of Comfort at OMM – Odunpazarı Modern Museum. Photography by Kayhan Kaygusuz. Image courtesy of OMM – Odunpazarı Modern Museum
