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• Dilan Demirbağ

AGON, When I Say “Apple”, Come Out...

In Homo Ludens, Johan Huizinga puts forward a groundbreaking claim regarding the origins of culture: "Play is older than culture." Starting from this fundamental thesis, this exhibition traces the path of ink to question how humanity has transformed what it learned from nature—that pure, instinctive, and playful dynamic—into complex cultural forms such as language, ritual, art, and law.

In my work, I seek man’s endeavor to carve out a place for himself within the chaotic and gargantuan cycles of nature through the unpredictable flow of ink on paper. To me, our bond with nature is not merely a biological struggle for survival; it is a journey of making sense of its harsh reality and building the collective memory we call "culture" by translating it into symbols. As Huizinga emphasizes, I believe that play is the purest form of this ancient bridge.

I argue that humanity adapts to nature through culture, learning all complex social rules and values through a "playful discipline." The ink stains I leave on paper represent the uncontrollable power and raw energy of nature. However, the figures I pull out of these stains—bodies colliding with gravity, rearing horses, or silently waiting communities—symbolize the constructive and taming power of play.

We transform every movement learned from nature into a cultural form by passing it through the filter of play. With my brush, I mimic this process: I impose the rules of the game upon the accidental character of the ink, transforming a stain into a form and a movement into a ritual. In my world, harmonizing with nature means domesticating its uncertainty with a playful seriousness. Play is not just a tool for learning; it is man’s way of creating a "human" space within nature.

Through the monochromatic universe of this exhibition, I invite you to witness this silent yet powerful transformation, where man becomes a part of nature only by playing—that is, by creating and rewriting the rules.

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Works

Dilan Demirbağ
Çamaşır Asanlar, 2020
Ink on paper, 35 x 60 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Giselle Ballet, 2025
Ink on paper, 46 x 37 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Jumpers - I, 2025
Ink on paper, 70 x 100 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Children Engaged in Play, 2025
Ink on paper, 46 x 37 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Butterfly Hunt, 2025
Ink on paper, 46 x 37 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Untitled, 2025
Oil on pressed canvas, 15 x 15 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Perceive Me - I, 2025
Oil on canvas, 73 x 93 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Perceive Me -II, 2025
Oil on canvas, 73 x 93 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Chess, 2025
Ink on Paper, 70 x 100 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Struggle, 2025
Ink on Paper, 70 x 100 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Noh Theatre - I, 2025
Ink on Paper, 70 x 100 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Noh Theatre - II, 2025
Ink on Paper, 70 x 100 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
The Resonant Ebb and Flow, 2025
Ink on Paper, 75 x 55 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Jumpers - II, 2025
Ink on paper, 70 x 100 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Matador, 2025
Ink on paper, 70 x 100 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Backstage, 2025
Ink on paper, 46 x 37 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Little Women, 2025
Ink on paper, 46 x 37 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Sled, 2025
Ink on paper, 46 x 37 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
In-touchness, 2025
Ink on paper, 46 x 37 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Family Portrait, 2025
Ink on paper, 46 x 37 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Untitled, 2025
Oil on press canvas, 15 x 15 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Untitled, 2025
Oil on press canvas, 15 x 15 cm

Dilan Demirbağ
Symbiosis, 2025
Ink on paper, 44 x 35 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Hide and Seek, 2025
Ink on paper, 29 x 42 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Hoop, 2025
Ink on paper, 46 x 37 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Untitled, 2026
Ink on paper, 21 x 29,7 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Untitled, 2026
Oil on canvas, 25 x 25 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
İnci, 2026
Ink on Paper, 75 x 55 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Untitled, 2026
Ink on Paper, 21 x 29,7 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Migratory, 2026
Ink on paper, 5 x 55 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Impression I, 2026
Ink on paper, 5 x 55 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Impression II, 2026
Ink on paper, 5 x 55 cm.

Dilan Demirbağ
Hunter, 2026
Ink on canvas, 25 x 66 cm. (Triptych) 20 x 20 cm. (her biri /each one)