Sakir Gökçebag - I Can't Say it Better

Montoro12 Gallery is pleased to present I Can’t Say it Better, Şakir Gökçebağ’s first solo exhibition in Brussels. The works of Şakir Gökçebağ (1965, Denizli, Turkey) are characterized by lightness, simplicity and silent humor. His works are based on everyday objects such as umbrellas, carpets, shoes, plastic buckets or even garden hoses, which have been cut, shifted, re-assembled, multiplied or otherwise transformed in open spatial constellations. At first glance some of the works recall the assisted readymades of Marcel Duchamp, while others result in geometric patterns and minimalist forms. The works of Şakir Gökçebağ refer to ornamentation, memory, and the fragility of perception due to how the objects are present both as materiality, image and language. The artist brings East and West together – the ornamental orient meets the strict formality of occidental modernism. Şakir Gökçebağ is especially well-known for his sculptures and installations in which he manipulates different materials to change the usual function of mundane objects, thus rendering the familiar unfamiliar. As one critic put it, through alienation the artists succeeds in re-enchanting the world, catching viewers off-guard. Simple yet profound, a result of both spontaneity and discipline, rooted in reality but escaping its fixed rules, the work of Şakir Gökçebağ is playful and thought-provoking, an invitation to question routine and see beyond the ordinary. Şakir Gökçebağ was born in 1965 in Denizli, Turkey. He received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D degrees from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Marmara University, Istanbul and continued his studies at the Academy in Düsseldorf. Besides his many exhibitions in Turkey, Gökçebağ participated in numerous international shows such as the Arp Museum, Remagen, Germany; the Kunsthaus Centre d’Art PasquArt, Biel, Switzerland, the Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin and Sotheby’s London. The artist received many grants by the German and Austrian governments and has been honored with numerous awards, such as the George Maciunas Prize, Wiesbaden, the Markus Lüpertz Prize, Düsseldorf, as well as the Leo Breuer Prize, Bonn. He currently lives and works in Hamburg, Germany.