Vertical Highways V02, 2025
Vertical Highways V02, 2025
Guard rails, steel
590 (h) x 150 x 240 cm
232¼ (h) x 59 x 94½ in
232¼ (h) x 59 x 94½ in
Permanent installation
Bettina Pousttchi’s sculpture Vertical Highways V02 has taken its place in front of Istanbul Modern. Using overlooked elements of urban furniture such as highway guardrails, barricades, street poles, and bollards in her practice, the artist presents a 5,9-meter-tall sculpture whose dynamic forms evoke the energy of Istanbul.
The work takes its title from a series initiated with Pousttchi’s 2019 exhibition at the Berlinische Galerie. It was later produced specifically for the "Unlimited" platform at Art Basel in 2024, curated by Giovanni Carmine, which brought together monumental installations, large-scale sculptures, and expansive video-photography works. A similar sculpture of the identical color and scale has been on view since 2023 in the square in front of Berlin Central Station (Hauptbahnhof), for which it was specially commissioned.
In Vertical Highways V02, Pousttchi bends and reshapes highway guardrails, transforming them into a vivid red, fluid form. Through techniques such as bending and pressing, she detaches everyday objects from their utilitarian functions, loading them with new meanings while dissolving boundaries between speed and stillness, movement and space, the public and the private.
The work is part of the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art Collection, Oya–Bülent Eczacıbsi Donation.
Photo: Baris Aras and Elif Çakirlar.
The work takes its title from a series initiated with Pousttchi’s 2019 exhibition at the Berlinische Galerie. It was later produced specifically for the "Unlimited" platform at Art Basel in 2024, curated by Giovanni Carmine, which brought together monumental installations, large-scale sculptures, and expansive video-photography works. A similar sculpture of the identical color and scale has been on view since 2023 in the square in front of Berlin Central Station (Hauptbahnhof), for which it was specially commissioned.
In Vertical Highways V02, Pousttchi bends and reshapes highway guardrails, transforming them into a vivid red, fluid form. Through techniques such as bending and pressing, she detaches everyday objects from their utilitarian functions, loading them with new meanings while dissolving boundaries between speed and stillness, movement and space, the public and the private.
The work is part of the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art Collection, Oya–Bülent Eczacıbsi Donation.
Photo: Baris Aras and Elif Çakirlar.
