In Milan, Elif Erkan's first solo exhibition in Italy on ecological and environmental sustainability

Renata Fabbri arte contemporanea gallery in Milan is hosting In the Off Hours, the first solo exhibition in Italy by artist Elif Erkan (Ankara, 1985), from Feb. 22 to April 3, 2022. Unpublished sculptural works, accompanied by a video projection, will be exhibited that aim to bring attention to the issues of ecological and environmental sustainability.

Through a process-oriented approach, Elif Erkan’s artistic practice investigates the emotional and psychological connotations internal to contemporary socio-economic, political and cultural structures. Central to the artist’s production is precisely this affective and shifting dimension that she expresses through the use of traditional sculptural materials combined with elements and iconographies of today’s consumerism and its addictions. Erkan spontaneously intervenes in the material he uses to create his sculptures, leaving the act of generating mysterious and accidental objects to the irrational behavior of it.

On the occasion of the exhibition, the artist presents a production of new works that, linked to his personal experience on a cruise ship, question the supposed environmental sustainability of tourist shipping companies. Set up on the walls are a series of sculptures made from a biodegradable plasticine that alludes in color to the dangerous yet vital nature of seawater. Made from the cast of packaging or using fragments of advertising posters found on ships to increase the ecological awareness of passengers and employees.

In dialogue with these sculptures, a group of stalagmite-shaped sculptures, scattered on the ground and consisting of an amalgam of clay, plaster and cement, seem to transport the viewer into theabyss of the sea. Connected to each other by long chains, the sculptures connote the exhibition spaces, simulating, through a dividing and labyrinthine structure, the long moments of waiting in line that tourists spend before boarding. Thus suspended, the works on display, accompanied by a video projection, guide the public by inviting them to meditate on the value of time.

For info: www.renatafabbri.it

Hours: Tuesday through Saturday from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. Mondays by appointment.

Image: Elif Erkan, Memory Card (2021; cornstarch, body lotion, vinyl glue, mineral oil, iron oxide, pigments, 30x15x5 cm © the artist and Renata Fabbri arte contemporanea. Photo by Alberto Fanelli.

In Milan, Elif Erkan's first solo exhibition in Italy on ecological and environmental sustainability

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