Mustafa Hulusi : Cyprus Realism （As part of the London Collective on Vortic Platform）
Pi Artworks is pleased to announce Mustafa Hulusi’s solo exhibition ‘Cyprus Realism' as part of the London Collective on Vortic Platform
December 15 - December 31 2020
Mustafa Hulusi mines his hybrid identity - he was born in London to Turkish-Cypriot parents - to create evocative paintings, installations, films, and photographs. By combining diverse artistic styles and both Middle Eastern and Western art historical references, with a nod to pop culture and mass media, Hulusi investigates how different visual 'languages' shape our perception. His work often investigates the traditional conflation of abstraction and representation in Islamic art and questions how this combination of styles affects viewer perception. In the 1990s, he established his reputation with 'guerilla' poster campaigns, in which he plastered London neighbourhoods with leaflets, posters and original large-scale works. He is currently revisiting this action through his poster campaign at 2 Hoxton Street, which you can follow on Instagram (@musmex) or www.mustafahulusiposters.com
Hulusi's botanical paintings depict the beautiful yet toxic Oleander plant. Created in a hyper-realist style, and all created within the last year, they call to mind both propaganda images from the early-20th Century to kitsch pastel coloured 1970s art. Rather than replicating an exact photographic image, the paintings attempt to capture a memory and its internal perception. A sense of unease pervades the paintings; these are nostalgic images and express loss. They are an attempt to remember, not just a particular moment of intensity and aliveness, but also self-awareness -the ability to have this conscious thought in the first place. With interiority and objectivity dismantled in a cybernetic dismemberment, the series demonstrates the possible catastrophes present within us. This is not Huxley's Heaven or Hell but a more fundamental attack on subjective ontology.
Mustafa Hulusi, b. 1971, London, UK. Major solo exhibitions include; Negative Ecstasy, Dirimart Dolapdere, Istanbul (2016); Recollections of Underdevelopment, Meliksetian I Briggs, Los Angeles (2015); The Empty Near East, Max Wigram Gallery, London (2011); The Empty Near East, The Page Gallery, Seocho-Dong (2011); New Works, Galerist, Istanbul (2011); Afyon, Max Wigram Gallery, London (2011); Mustafa Hulusi and Mark Titchner: The Worshippers, Max Wigram Gallery, London (2009); The Ruins, Civic Room, London (2009); Mustafa Hulusi: Obliteration and Memory, Patrick Painter, Los Angeles (2009); Iznik-Kibris-Londra, Galerist, Istanbul (2008); Ecstasy, Max Wigram Gallery, London (2008); The Cyprus Pavilion, Venice Biennale, Venice (2007); Cennet Bahçesi, A-Foundation, Liverpool (2007); preBuild (a Field of Flowers), Max Wigram Gallery, London (2006); Mustafa Hulusi Too, Rachmaninoff's, London (2005); The End of the West, Max Wigram Gallery, London (2005).
Pi Artworks is pleased to announce Mustafa Hulusi's solo exhibition 'Cyprus Realism' as part of the London Collective on Vortic Collect
December 15 - December 31
Mustafa Hulusi mines his hybrid identity - he was born in London to Pi Artworks is pleased to announce Mustafa Hulusi's solo exhibition 'Cyprus Realism' as part of the London Collective on Vortic CollectTurkish-Cypriot parents - to create evocative paintings, installations, films, and photographs. By combining diverse artistic styles and both Middle Eastern and Western art historical references, with a nod to pop culture and mass media, Hulusi investigates how different visual 'languages' shape our perception. His work often investigates the traditional conflation of abstraction and representation in Islamic art and questions how this combination of styles affects viewer perception. In the 1990s, he established his reputation with 'guerilla' poster campaigns, in which he plastered London neighbourhoods with leaflets, posters and original large-scale works. He is currently revisiting this action through his poster campaign at 2 Hoxton Street, which you can follow on Instagram (@musmex) or www.mustafahulusiposters.com
Hulusi's botanical paintings depict the beautiful yet toxic Oleander plant. Created in a hyper-realist style, and all created within the last year, they call to mind both propaganda images from the early-20th Century to kitsch pastel coloured 1970s art. Rather than replicating an exact photographic image, the paintings attempt to capture a memory and its internal perception. A sense of unease pervades the paintings; these are nostalgic images and express loss. They are an attempt to remember, not just a particular moment of intensity and aliveness, but also self-awareness -the ability to have this conscious thought in the first place. With interiority and objectivity dismantled in a cybernetic dismemberment, the series demonstrates the possible catastrophes present within us. This is not Huxley's Heaven or Hell but a more fundamental attack on subjective ontology.
Mustafa Hulusi, b. 1971, London, UK. Major solo exhibitions include; Negative Ecstasy, Dirimart Dolapdere, Istanbul (2016); Recollections of Underdevelopment, Meliksetian I Briggs, Los Angeles (2015); The Empty Near East, Max Wigram Gallery, London (2011); The Empty Near East, The Page Gallery, Seocho-Dong (2011); New Works, Galerist, Istanbul (2011); Afyon, Max Wigram Gallery, London (2011); Mustafa Hulusi and Mark Titchner: The Worshippers, Max Wigram Gallery, London (2009); The Ruins, Civic Room, London (2009); Mustafa Hulusi: Obliteration and Memory, Patrick Painter, Los Angeles (2009); Iznik-Kibris-Londra, Galerist, Istanbul (2008); Ecstasy, Max Wigram Gallery, London (2008); The Cyprus Pavilion, Venice Biennale, Venice (2007); Cennet Bahçesi, A-Foundation, Liverpool (2007); preBuild (a Field of Flowers), Max Wigram Gallery, London (2006); Mustafa Hulusi Too, Rachmaninoff's, London (2005); The End of the West, Max Wigram Gallery, London (2005).
For more information, please contact the gallery at london@piartworks.com or piartworkslondon@piartworks.com or
+442076378403