After viewing the half-neon half-carpet works of Ramazan Can, Rahul Kumar remarks, “I was drawn to the works of Can at the gallery Anna Laudel’s presentation at Art Dubai 2022. A tapestry that I was later told is an original, used piece that belonged to the family of Can, was juxtaposed with neon lights, outlining some of the patterns of the carpet itself. The work was dichotomous – old and new, quiet and bold, handmade and industrial – all at once.”

He later interviewed the artist to discuss his work and personal history even further. As stated by Can, in an attempt to deal with the temporal flow of the act of extinction (past-present) and from the opposite (present-past) such half-carpet half-neon works emerged.

My personal favorite of this series is “Always Waited for Tomorrow”. There’s something about the juxtaposition of old and new that is incredibly compelling as is, but adding the ‘loading’ bar connects it even more to the idea of temporal flow between past and present.

If you’d like to go more in depth behind the art, the interview by Rahul Kumar is very informative.

*All photos copyright Ramazan Can.