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:

Robert Ryman, Line at David Zwirner ★★★☆☆

Robert Ryman

Line

★★★☆☆

The artist’s signature becomes a distress call.

Abdullah Al Saadi, Sites of Memory, Sites of Amnesia, UAE pavilion in Venice ★★★☆☆

Abdullah Al Saadi

Sites of Memory, Sites of Amnesia

★★★☆☆

The exhibition’s user experience rivals that of the Apple Store.

Michael Andrew Page, Claustrum at Project Native Informant ★★★★☆

Michael Andrew Page

Claustrum

★★★★☆

Page’s tent, brain, and the cathedral take the same form for a pretty good reason.

Willie Doherty, Remnant at Matt’s Gallery ★★★☆☆

Willie Doherty

Remnant

★★★☆☆

Doherty’s tragipoetic timing can be masterly.

Robert Rauschenberg, ROCI at Thaddeus Ropac ★★★☆☆

Robert Rauschenberg

ROCI

★★★☆☆

This project outs Rauschenberg as a propagandist if not an outright Fed.

Tommy Camerno, Delirious at Filet ★★☆☆☆

Tommy Camerno

Delirious

★★☆☆☆

What’s left of the show are stage props that feed adolescent imaginations with false memories of the long-finished party.

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