Anna Laudel Istanbul is presenting Bilal Hakan Karakaya’s solo exhibition "Invisible Cities,” which focuses on the rising mega structures in metropolitans, emphasizing how desolate and unrecognizable modern cities have become through the art of sculpture.
Named after the well-known novel of Italo Calvino, "Invisible Cities" features abandoned and haunted business centers with a bleak perspective through a selection representing detached Metropol cities with gloomy and mysterious highlights.
Focusing on creating innovative and bold designs that push the boundaries of sculpture using a casting technique with a thousand-year history, Karakaya invites the audience to an unknown universe through the feeling of density and congestion of a metropolis. In his recent works, Karakaya refers to Glenn Albrecht's concept of "Solastalgia," a combination of the Latin words for comfort and sadness.
A dystopian depiction of urban life challenges the concept of a home, which is reframed as a daunting place that provides inhabitants with an alienated, trapped and imprisoned life in blinding lights.
Described by the artist as “the modern-day equivalent of medieval darkness,” the artworks in this special solo selection create timeless spaces with sculptures that are dynamic or static, hanging between the past and the future in a manner reminiscent of Plato's quote: "As above, so below."
Bilal Hakan Karakaya's selection is inspired by the metropolises that have become desolate and unrecognizable during the pandemic. Inspired by urban life, through the sculptures of Karakaya's prophesy, we would be living in a submerged, dark future within forbidden, dangerous and deadly states.
The artist's works are inspired by business centers, which often turn into ghost towns at night, bending reality when viewed from a distance.
Offering a new perspective on urban life, Bilal Hakan Karakaya’s solo exhibition "Invisible Cities” can be visited until May 21.
