Artists

Şakir Gökçebağ, Christina Calbari

Press release

Christina Calbari, Şakir Gökçebağ - re claim, curated by Beral Madra In the exhibition re claim, Christina Calbari creates a pictorial world inhabited by androgynous beings, gnome-like figures, and hybrid creatures — half animal, half human. Young girls with barely visible facial features appear alongside them: noses, mouths and eyes are only faintly suggested. The figures seem anonymous, their individuality deliberately receding into the background. They are primarily distinguished by their clothing, which is depicted with great care and attention to detail. The garments serve as both coverings and disguises, as well as signs of transformation. It is within this anonymity that a subtle shift takes place. Calbari's figures appear to evade fixed gender and identity attributions. Her drawings create a space in which the boundaries of traditional roles begin to dissolve, suggesting a form of freedom — a movement beyond the cages of socially constructed identities that have existed for centuries. Christina Calbari (born in 1975 in Athens, Greece) lives and works in Athens. The installations of Şakir Gökçebağ are created from objects we encounter every day: ordinary utensils, tools, and devices that make our lives easier yet often go unnoticed. As quiet companions of modern life, they perform their functions and then fade from view. In Gökçebağ's artistic practice, these objects are removed from their familiar context and reconfigured. Through precise interventions, craftsmanship, repetition, and surprising compositions, everyday things are transformed into poetic visual structures. The mundane becomes visible, imbued with renewed significance. His works open up a new perception of the ordinary: they blur the line between function and aesthetics, inviting viewers to rediscover the hidden form, order, and poetry within the objects that surround us. Şakir Gökçebağ (born in 1965 in Denizli, Turkey) lives and works in Hamburg.