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 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.

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 metropoles. 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”.

Bilal Hakan Karakaya’s selection is inspired by the metropolises that have become desolate and unrecognisable during the pandemic. Inspired by urban life, the sculptures of Karakaya prophesy that we would be living in a submerged, dark future within forbidden, dangerous and deadly states. The artist’s works are inspired by business centres, which often turn into ghost towns at night, giving a sense of unreality and uncanny when viewed from a distance.