Life on Mars , shredded magazines, glue, rose water, 134 cm x 91 cm x 16cm Metal frame, silk fabric, shredded magazines, glue, rose water, 107 cm x 52 cm, 2012
Turkish born British artist Ismail Erbil’s works are often constructed as installations comprising of large numbers of found and ready-made objects that the artist collects while also presenting objects made using materials such as clay, shredded and collaged magazines and plaster. Erbil’s working process melds these different categories of objects, revealing and concealing images in a type of excavation and re-working of symbols and stories. Another strand of his practice involves the making of costumes that are ceremonial or shamanic in appearance. Erbil places these costumes on stands in amongst his installations or wears them in specific environments to create photographic documentation that then also re-enter his installations as photographs. Sound recordings also figure in his works. The overall effect is of cycles of actions and layers of objects and performative narratives that draw the viewer into environments or zones of experience. Erbil touches on themes that include traditional ceremonies, the male body, sexuality, rituals and domesticity while exploring an other-worldly physicality that re-locates materials and objects into an ambiguous territory where objects playfully evade classification.
ISMAIL ERBIL, Unit: 2102
92 WHITE POST LANE
HACKNEY WICK
E9 5EN
London
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Europe
