Sep 12, 2024 - Oct 31, 2024

Despite You, Sky is Still Blue

Hakan Cingöz

After a six-year hiatus, Hakan Cingöz presents his fifth solo exhibition, where he emerges as an observer exploring the connections between identity, belonging, and society. In his exhibition titled "The Sky is Still Blue, Despite You," he addresses the individual struggle for existence and its relationship with the transformations and changes within society.

In his works, Cingöz creates a tension between the concepts of infinity and depth, positioning the viewer in the midst of this duality. For him, the sense of infinity that the sky offers is merely an illusion—misleading, much like the boundaries of helplessness felt when lost in darkness. By reflecting these contradictory emotions on the canvas, he questions the challenges faced by both the individual and society, as well as their resilience in the face of these difficulties.

Since 2013, Cingöz has examined the effects of political and social events in Turkey on collective memory, while also aiming to shed light on today’s issues. A central theme in his works is the transformation of the reflex to forget into a survival instinct, along with the indifference this brings.

By drawing attention to the sky in this exhibition, Cingöz seeks to remind us of the consequences of forgetting, while also sharing the individual’s journey to search for hope within their own reality. The exhibition invites the viewer on a journey between contrasts and parallels, reflecting the effort to keep societal memory alive.