BİLAL HAKAN KARAKAYA
Invisible Cities

Anna Laudel Istanbul presents Bilal Hakan Karakaya’s solo exhibition "Invisible Cities” between March 30 to May 21, 2023.

Named after the well-known novel of Italo Calvino, Karakaya focuses on the rising mega structures in metropolitan life and emphasises how desolate and unrecognisable the modern cities have become through the art of sculpture. Visioning abandoned and haunted business centres with a bleak perspective, “Invisible Cities” is a beautiful selection representing detached metropol cities with gloomy and mysterious highlights.

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 home which is reframed as a daunting place that provides inhabitants an alienated, trapped, and imprisoned life in blinding lights.

Described by the artist as “the modern-day equivalent of mediaeval 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 that are reminiscent of Plato's quote: "As above, so below".

Offering a new perspective of urban life, Bilal Hakan Karakaya’s solo exhibition "Invisible Cities” can be visited from March 30 to May 21, 2023.

Kazancı Yokuşu No:45-49a, Gümüşsuyu Mah., Beyoğlu, 34437 Istanbul, Turkey