Özgür Kar

The Renaissance Society | Chicago, USA

Özgür Kar has been invited by The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago's "Intermissions" program. With SAHA's support, the artist takes over the space with a newly-commissioned media installation between 22 and 23 April 2023. Organized by Karsten Lund, this special project and event are intended to be experienced by audiences over one weekend, where people are invited to linger in the space like voyeurs of a long-duration performance. 

Özgür Kar creates inventive installations that feature eye-catching black-and-white animations. While each of his projects hints at different stories and explores new configurations in space, they often function like multi-part soundscapes and deconstructed theater pieces: isolated figures become performers, appearing in looping scenes that are at once austere and emotion-filled. While honing his own style in these works, Kar riffs on traditions like dance macabre, experimental theatre in the vein of Samuel Beckett, early animated films and more recent cartoons.

Özgür Kar (1992, Ankara) lives and works in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Kar’s works assemble in space to function as scenes from theatre pieces: each serves as a character playing its part within a non-linear score and script. Working with voice actors and instrumentalists, Kar produces multi-part soundscapes that unfold through solemn repetition, forging existential dread mixed with cartoonish macabre. Stoic in their contemplation, his minimally animated drawings are set in imperceptible loops that turn videos into sculptures confined within the edge of television screens. Beyond the campness of macabre, or the grotesque anxiety of death juxtaposed with cartoonish figures, the theatricality of Kar’s work is set in tonal displays of contemporary existentialism.

About The Renaissance Society

The Renaissance Society was founded in 1915 by a group of University of Chicago faculty, and our name refers to their intention to create a space in which to foster engagement with new ideas in arts and culture. Intermissions launched at the Renaissance Society in January 2017 as a new programming series devoted to performance and other innovative time-based works, staged in the Renaissance Society empty space in between exhibitions. This recurring platform presents two events every year, supporting a wide variety of live projects.