Helio León: The Purple Room

Helio León,Fatih, from the seriesThe Purple Room, 2012. © Helio León. Courtesy of the artist

This is the story of a journey back to the core of a city, Istanbul, with which I have very strong emotional ties. I experienced a happy and romantic period of time there in my early twenties. It’s very important to me how the past and the present are connected. I keep finding myself in situations that recall people and moments that affected me during my childhood and teenage years. The border between life, dream and imagination is blurred. There’s something really nightmarish in the world to me, this is a strong feeling I have, though I also find tenderness, love and vulnerability. All the pictures are reflections that come from the raw material of, my own life. I had come back to a city that, and still is, being very quickly destroyed. The wounds of the city seemed to reflect my own; my fears, my obsessions, my intimacy.

Curator: Michael Ackerman

Helio León (born 1987, Madrid)

He received his BFA from the University of Cuenca, Spain in 2011. His works have been exhibited in Spain, Ireland, Italy and USA. He has published in Blacklie Vol. 1 book as well as in online magazines like Emaho, Dienacht and Vice.