Ali Elmacı’s works depict the manipulative discourse produced by oppressive governments through the realms of the obscure and uncanny. 212 presents two new images from the artist’s latest series “I Can’t Reciprocate Your Feelings, Osman” for the first time.
ARTWORK BY ALİ ELMACI TEXT BY ZEYNEP EREKLİ
Something is not right. One look at these portraits and you feel it instantly. Perturbing and eerie sights conceal great cruelties. The person we look in the eye appears to have long been victim of a slow and systematic form of torture - unable to reach out to his own feelings and needs, and incapable of recalling human pride. He loses his foresight into his own environment and that of other living creatures. He has become a mere toy in the hands of the authority that manipulates him, a soldier turned into an obedient slave, a mankurt.
Ali Elmacı has a degree in painting from Mimar Sinan Faculty of Fine Arts, and his paintings focus on an authoritarian and oppressive regime that is only concerned about guaranteeing submission to the government by eliminating personal privacy and breaking loyalties between people. His latest series “I Can’t Reciprocate Your Feelings, Osman” deals with the social transformation triggered by the neo-Ottoman ideology that has gained popularity in Turkey in recent times. With complete control over the power of the media, governments are able to employ their own methods to gradually pacify members of society. A bully wearing a horse’s head appears as absurd as it is eerie. Complemented with an axe bearing a floral pattern on the handle, the bully comes across as a real threat.
Ali Elmacı’s works depict the manipulative discourse produced by oppressive governments through the realms of the obscure and uncanny. 212 presents two new images from the artist’s latest series “I Can’t Reciprocate Your Feelings, Osman” for the first time.
ARTWORK BY ALİ ELMACI TEXT BY ZEYNEP EREKLİ
Something is not right. One look at these portraits and you feel it instantly. Perturbing and eerie sights conceal great cruelties. The person we look in the eye appears to have long been victim of a slow and systematic form of torture - unable to reach out to his own feelings and needs, and incapable of recalling human pride. He loses his foresight into his own environment and that of other living creatures. He has become a mere toy in the hands of the authority that manipulates him, a soldier turned into an obedient slave, a mankurt.
Ali Elmacı has a degree in painting from Mimar Sinan Faculty of Fine Arts, and his paintings focus on an authoritarian and oppressive regime that is only concerned about guaranteeing submission to the government by eliminating personal privacy and breaking loyalties between people. His latest series “I Can’t Reciprocate Your Feelings, Osman” deals with the social transformation triggered by the neo-Ottoman ideology that has gained popularity in Turkey in recent times. With complete control over the power of the media, governments are able to employ their own methods to gradually pacify members of society. A bully wearing a horse’s head appears as absurd as it is eerie. Complemented with an axe bearing a floral pattern on the handle, the bully comes across as a real threat.
Ali Elmacı’s works depict the manipulative discourse produced by oppressive governments through the realms of the obscure and uncanny. 212 presents two new images from the artist’s latest series “I Can’t Reciprocate Your Feelings, Osman” for the first time.
ARTWORK BY ALİ ELMACI TEXT BY ZEYNEP EREKLİ
Something is not right. One look at these portraits and you feel it instantly. Perturbing and eerie sights conceal great cruelties. The person we look in the eye appears to have long been victim of a slow and systematic form of torture - unable to reach out to his own feelings and needs, and incapable of recalling human pride. He loses his foresight into his own environment and that of other living creatures. He has become a mere toy in the hands of the authority that manipulates him, a soldier turned into an obedient slave, a mankurt.
Ali Elmacı has a degree in painting from Mimar Sinan Faculty of Fine Arts, and his paintings focus on an authoritarian and oppressive regime that is only concerned about guaranteeing submission to the government by eliminating personal privacy and breaking loyalties between people. His latest series “I Can’t Reciprocate Your Feelings, Osman” deals with the social transformation triggered by the neo-Ottoman ideology that has gained popularity in Turkey in recent times. With complete control over the power of the media, governments are able to employ their own methods to gradually pacify members of society. A bully wearing a horse’s head appears as absurd as it is eerie. Complemented with an axe bearing a floral pattern on the handle, the bully comes across as a real threat.
POSITOPIA
17
OUT NOW
is a large format international biannual magazine from Istanbul. Focusing on arts, culture and society, each issue tackles various universal subjects within a distinct theme.
Address
Mim Kemal Öke Cad. No.6 D.6 Nişantaşı, Şişli, İstanbul, Turkey
+90 212 232 4288
contact@212magazine.com
POSITOPIA
17
OUT NOW
is a large format international biannual magazine from Istanbul. Focusing on arts, culture and society, each issue tackles various universal subjects within a distinct theme.
Address
Mim Kemal Öke Cad. No.6 D.6 Nişantaşı, Şişli, İstanbul, Turkey
+90 212 232 4288
contact@212magazine.com
POSITOPIA
17
OUT NOW
is a large format international biannual magazine from Istanbul. Focusing on arts, culture and society, each issue tackles various universal subjects within a distinct theme.
Address
Mim Kemal Öke Cad. No.6 D.6 Nişantaşı, Şişli, İstanbul, Turkey
+90 212 232 4288
contact@212magazine.com