art ON Istanbul welcomes the Istanbul Biennial with Daniel CANOGAR, a world-renowned figure in new media art.
In parallel with the Biennial, art ON inaugurates its season with Canogar’s first solo exhibition in Turkey, presenting one of the foremost names in contemporary new media art.
Following his “Spin” installation shown at art ON’s stand at Contemporary Istanbul last year, Canogar’s solo exhibition will be on view at the gallery from September 10 to October 5.
Titled “Vortex”, the exhibition features the artist’s photographs and installations. Canogar, whose works are also part of the Borusan Art Center collection, explores the relationship between everyday objects and the individual, using a distinctive visual language to frame his subjects.
In “Vortex”, the artist presents photographs that engage viewers with familiar objects in unfamiliar contexts, alongside his video-installation “Spin”, which is also constructed from ready-made objects. Among the objects Canogar employs are plastic bottles, CDs, VHS tapes, old cassettes, cables, and bathtubs. Through the projection of videos onto these objects, he transforms their functions, imbuing them with new forms and movement.
Canogar describes his artistic approach:
“Most of my sculptural installations are made from discarded electronic materials, including computers, phones, electrical cables, burned-out bulbs, old meters, coin machines, celluloid, DVDs, and many other items. In a way, my installations reflect the short lifespan of technology and its relationship to organic decay. They are also a call to revive inanimate objects. Through my work, I aim to breathe new life into discarded materials, uncover their hidden histories, and in doing so, evoke the collective memory of a time and society.”
Regarding the content of the works in this exhibition, Canogar explains:
“Water, in all its forms, serves as an aesthetic tool for me. In the Vortices (Vortex) photography series, water functions as a natural force that shapes the backbone of my work. These images are inspired by the Great Pacific Garbage Vortex, capturing the accumulation of waste and debris in the depths of the Pacific Ocean—a mass approaching the size of the European continent. This waste will persist for generations to come, and the production and disposal of plastics are increasing at alarming rates. Vortices is an attempt to depict the victims and perpetrators of this environmental catastrophe.”
Daniel Canogar’s “Vortex” will be on view at art ON Istanbul from September 10 to October 5.