Philip & Shelley Fox Aarons and Ryan McNamara in Conversation with Merve Ãœnsal
Friday, January 18, 2013
collectorspace invites New York-based collectors Shelley Fox Aarons and Philip E. Aarons to Istanbul to discuss their collecting practices. Artist Ryan McNamara will also join the conversation. Moderated by artist Merve Ünsal, the event will take place at collectorspace on Friday, January 18 2013, 6:30–8pm.
Ryan McNamara is an artist based in New York. McNamara’s practice, with a focus on video and performance, intertwines the art community, social networks, and technology. He worked in temporary and collaborative projects in various biennial exhibitions, museum benefits, and one-night performances. Exhibitions and performances include Greater New York, MoMA PS1, the 2009 Athens Biennial, The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Kitchen, The Artist’s Institute, Performa 09 at X Initiative, and MoMA, New York.
Shelley Fox Aarons and Philip E. Aarons are collectors and devoted supporters of contemporary art.  They have loaned works from their collection to numerous exhibitions in Museums and alternative arts spaces worldwide, and have supported the publication of many exhibition catalogs and artists publications.  The Aarons are actively involved in many nonprofit art organizations in New York City, including MoMA PS1, the New Museum, Printed Matter, the High Line Art Program,  and Creative Time, among others. The Aarons also have a book collection that consists of over 10,000 publications with a focus on zines and independent books by artists from 1965 onward.
Merve Ünsal is an artist based in Istanbul. She is currently interested in tracing artistic production through the lecture format. She has previously explored this topic through writing, editing, and visual and verbal collages that employ automatization and found imagery. She is the co-founder of m-est.org, an artist-centered online project in which artist works, studio visits, and articles based on or related to conversations on visual practices are published.
Image: Courtesy of the artist and Elizabeth Dee, New York.