Özgür Kar

Heavy Ground

★★★☆☆

On until 8 February 2025

A pair of houseflies caught in the sticky mess of a trap live out their last moments in serenade and coitus. The end, or is it? This is the kind of story one would like to be ‘deceptively’ simple in the hope of uncovering its trick. Kar’s animated film loops and the desperate rite misses a finale. Dirt, death, and procreation, again and once more, forever.

The installation relies entirely on a display gimmick. If these few frames hold some profound truth, this exhibition overplays its importance. Whatever insight Kar offers into a fly’s life – or, to have it his way, the whole universe – is aesthetically intriguing but fleeting.


notes and notices are short and curt exhibition reviews. Read more:

Cullinan Richards, Retrospective at Alma Pearl ★★★★☆

Cullinan Richards

Retrospective

★★★★☆

Rhis show is the kompromat in an art generation’s archive.

TJ Wilcox, Hiding in Plain Sight at Sadie Coles HQ ★★☆☆☆

TJ Wilcox

Hiding in Plain Sight

★★☆☆☆

Vanity proceeds in circles.

Alvaro Barrington, Grandma’s Land at Sadie Coles ★★★☆☆

Alvaro Barrington

Grandma’s Land

★★★☆☆

The party slumps into a half-voiced political complaint and never recovers. This is what happens when instead of living culture, we ‘celebrate’ it.

Gabriel Hartley, Floorlines at Seventeen ★★★★★

Gabriel Hartley

Floorlines

★★★★★

Desire breeds introspection. Desire breeds mistrust.

Auudi Dorsey at PM/AM ★★★★☆

Auudi Dorsey

★★★★☆

Dorsey records the human experience with the true universalism of paint.

Geumhyung Jeong, Under Construction at ICA ★☆☆☆☆

Geumhyung Jeong

Under Construction

★☆☆☆☆

This tech-optimism might have entertained gallery-goers twenty years ago.

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