Opening: Friday May 5, 2023 | 11:00-6:00pm
On view until Sunday, May 7, 2023
KODA/RU House, #404B Colonels Row | Click here for access to Governors Island
Click here to view the online brochure
Untitled (Blue Sandpaper on Governors Island) is a site specific installation by the RU artist Ahmet Civelek made of jumbo rolls of sandpaper installed by the artist on the grass field in front of the KODA/RU House. Conceived as an interactive artwork, visitors of Governors Island are invited to walk on the sandpaper. The process behind these large works begins with Civelek’s interest in the inherent defects that are present in the rolls of sandpaper as they often go discarded and wasted after sitting for months of storage. Civelek then liaises with the sandpaper producers to acquire “jumbo” rolls of material with manufacturer’s defects. Changing their purpose, setting, and definition brings new life into these rejected and overlooked materials.
Click below to see images of the installation
About
Currently in residency at RU, Ahmet Civelek is a Turkish conceptual artist based in New York City. His artworks are concerned with defining and redefining destruction in relation to his experiences growing up in Istanbul at the turn of the Millenium. Using drones, photography and industrial sandpaper, he creates artworks that investigate how humans interact with the tactility of their environments. Civelek’s installations and mixed-media pieces have been featured in exhibitions at Pi Artworks, Istanbul; Entrance, NYC; Koraalberg Gallery, Antwerp; santralistanbul Museum, Istanbul; The Parrish Art Museum, Watermill, NY; Southard Reid, London and Oktem & Aykut, Istanbul. He has been awarded residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, VT; the NARS Foundation, NYC; Arteles, Finland and Autocenter, Berlin. Civelek is a graduate of the Pratt Institute and Central Saint Martins. Click here for full bio.
This program benefits from the support of Klingspor Abrasives.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
