Born in 1984, Timur Si-Qin is a Berlin-based artist and a leading figure in a new generation of artists associated with the contemporary philosophical movements of ‘New Materialism’ and ‘Speculative Realism’. Critically acclaimed for his diffusion of discourses in philosophy and science, Si-Qin takes a distinctive route atypical of contemporary artists: he steers away from an ironic, mimetic critique of contemporary ideologies, in which images are seen to operate linguistically as signifiers. Instead, he approaches his images with earnestly, threading the intellectual wefts of new-age paradigms.
Seen ubiquitously throughout his oeuvre, Si-Qin makes use of commercial imagery in Truth by Peace II, not to orchestrate a kind of Warholian reproduction of material ideologies, but instead aligns itself with the material universe. A model crouches on rocky, barren landscape at centre stage; she wears a white long-sleeve adorned with the bolded letters ‘TBC’, signifying Truth By Peace, a pseudo-fashion company Si-Qin created, ‘a kind of materialist cult from the future’ according to the artist himself. Adorning the model with thick gold chains and sneakers, he harkens back to mid-90s street style that has since entered mainstream media, devising an object-oriented ontology. By garnering the monolithic aesthetics of advertising, Si-Qin emphasises the vitality of matter.
Having graduated from the University of Arizona in 2008, the artist has exhibited across the world, including Bonner Kunstverein, CCS Bard New York, Museum Fridericianum Kassel and the Taipei Biennial. He is currently in the group exhibition Seeing the Invisible, an outdoor augmented reality show by Toronto Museum of Contemporary Art, on view until 30 September 2023.