Sukan has set out to identify alternative sites of public display and common space within the banal recesses of the everyday world. Collecting and adopting the sketch pads and papers that customers use for testing markers, pens, and other drawing tools at art supply stores through the years, from different cities around the world, Sukan considers how these test sheets serve as a vehicle for both intimate and exhibitionist performance as well as original social documents. In the improvised layers of sketches, doodles, and drawings that fill the pages, Sukan sees the documents of a ritual that approximates the practices of graffiti art but makes no allowance for participation in a common culture. Unlike palimpsest or open-sourced editing platforms where history can be scraped clean and updated, the sketch pages collapse past and present straddling the line between private notation and public expression. His transformation of these sketch-filled pages suggests that while the artist offers another voice, it is one capable of giving form to that which litters the surface of the things.
Explore an exciting piece of abstract photography that pushes the boundaries of contemporary art.
Untitled 13, Paris, 2018. Abstract Photography
Untitled 13 (Paris) 2018,
From the series of Public on Paper
Inkjet print on fine art paper
Limited Edition.
Unframed
Born in Ankara, Turkey in 1973, Sukan's art has been showcased in notable venues worldwide, including Maison des Metallos (Paris), Maxxi Museum (Rome), Istanbul Modern Museum, and major art fairs like Art Basel and FIAC. He currently lives and works between New York and Istanbul.