Mustafa Horasan: Sleep of the Darknes

Horasan brings a new perspective to assemblage in his upcoming solo show "Sleep of the Darkness" at Pi Artworks Istanbul. His preceding exhibition entitled "When The Time Comes" (2014), at Pi Artworks London branch, was the first comprehensive presentation of the artist's work with photo collage. New work exceeds the limitations of collage techniques such as cut and paste, shredding and weaving.

Horasan is compelled by his resentment of our desire to consume, constructing works from what he refers to as 'residue', 'waste', 'stuff we don't use but continue to save'. Resulting sculptures and works on canvas address feelings of immobility and accumulation, emanating a heavy distain. This time found objects are drenched in black, becoming a unified mass of capricious forms.

The artist challenges both himself and the viewer with by coating each work in a compound substance he devised through lengthy research and significant testing. Its chemical composition resembles that of a fluid used in mummification. The works offer un-calculated and subconscious relationships between objects and ideas. His process, which imitates that of painting, passes control from the artist's hands to his material and back again, as he manipulates its composition throughout production.

Alongside his well-known paintings, he has often produced collages using his own photographs. Within this new body of work, Horasan has allowed his painting practice to be influenced by his work as a collage artist. For "Sleep of the Darkness" the artist places various black and white cut-out forms, which are recognizable as from his paper collages. Horasan first prepares a paper collage, and later paints it in a hyper-realistic manner. He creates a great illusion, and refers so to the relativity and subjectivism of any idea or image of reality.

A surprising installation, in which Horasan intrudes upon and re-interprets an architectural model, anchors the exhibition. Creating a dark city, dense with high apartment blocks, he injects a sense of irony into this image of contemporary urban life. The viewer can sense that something has gone wrong in this quiet city: "Full of concrete… We enter further and further into darkness."

Horasan graduated from Marmara University's Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Graphics in 1986. His background in design and graphics has influenced his artistic style, and he works across a wide range of media, from oil and pastel to drawing and print. His colourful and often collage‐style works are iconic for their exploration of both physiological and psychological space, drawing on the grotesque, on Pop culture influences and real life. Last year, the artist made solo shows at Pi Artworks London and Yallay Gallery, Hong Kong. Since 2008 Horasan represented by Pi Artworks and his works have been presented at the international art fairs such as The Armory Show (New York), Art Dubai, Contemporary Istanbul, Scope Basel, Marrakech Art Fair and Artinternational by the gallery. The group exhibitions he participated include: "Istanbul Modern-Bahrain" at Bahrain National Museum (2013), "Contemporary Art from Turkey" at Museo Comunale d'Arte Contemporanea (Italy, 2010), "İstanbul Next Wave" at Martin-Gropius-Bau (Berlin, 2009), "New Works, New Horizons" (2009) and "Intersecting Times" (2007) at Istanbul Modern, "On the Frontiers of Experience" (2005) and "Thief City" (2005) at Akbank Sanat. Horasan's work can be found in international private and public collections, including those of Istanbul Modern, Turkey and the Sharjah Art Museum, UAE.