Number 3: Grit

Ahmet Civelek

Pi Artworks Istanbul, Kemankeş Karamustafa Paşa Mahallesi, Mumhane Caddesi No. 48, Beyoğlu

This solo exhibition by Turkish-American artist Ahmet Civelek focuses on destruction through the material of commercially manufactured sandpaper. His processed-based, multimedia work explores the symbolic and poetic spaces in between drawing, sculpture and installation. In his eyes, destruction is a form of creative authorship.

The three groups of work on display all utilise sandpaper, a material inherent with conflict and juxtapositions: it’s used to create, while slowly and steadily destroying. It creates smoothness by being abrasive. The sandpaper series get at the heart of Civelek’s specific ideas of destruction.