Can Altay

Concerned with civic space and urban life, Can Altay (Ankara, 1975) utilizes images, objects, and spaces in his work. Altay points to the ways in which legal and conventional borders are transgressed. Through politics of space, he elaborates on the conflict between the traditional and the subjective. By discussing western notions and values with regards to quotidian actualities in his native Turkey, Altay develops a critical yet benign language that breathes inbetween traditions and (post)modernist and globalist domination. “How do we inhabit the system or spaces that we are born into? To what extent are these tactics of inhabitation coded? How far can they be pushed? What are the limits that we take for granted and try to push from there on?” These are the types of questions that form his true focus.. He had solo exhibitions at ar/ge kunst, Bolzano (2016), Öktem Aykut, Istanbul (2015), Arcade, London (2015, 2012), SALT, Istanbul (2014), Casco, Utrecht (2011), The Showroom, London (2010), Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin (2008), Spike Island, Bristol (2007) and Sala Rekalde, Bilbao (2006). His work has been included in Biennials of Istanbul, Yinchuan, Havana, Busan, Gwangju, Marrakech, Taipei, Thessaloniki; and was exhibited in museums and galleries such as the Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), VanAbbe Museum (Eindhoven), MAXXI (Rome), ZKM (Karlsruhe), Artists Space (New York), SALT (Istanbul), and Moca Toronto (Toronto). His public projects include, MÇPS at 5533 (Istanbul, 2017); Loughborough Records Presents Presence (Loughborough, 2016); Inner Space Station (NewYork, 2013); Distributed (London, 2012); The Church Street Partners’ Gazette (London, 2010-13) and PARK: bir ihtimal (Istanbul, 2010). In collaboration with Asli Altay, he curated group exhibitions and designed shows in SALT (Istanbul), VanAbbe Museum (Eindhoven), Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato.