Özgür Kar makes his institutional debut in Switzerland with immersive works that combine video, sculpture, animation and sound. His multidisciplinary practice probes existential questions through transformative environments. At Kunsthalle Basel, Kar’s exhibition becomes a site for innovative, immersive art experiences that introduce audiences to new spatial and sensory perspectives.
In his multidisciplinary practice, Özgür Kar (b. 1992) crosses traditional genre boundaries by combining video, sculpture, animation, and sound into spatial installations. His works circle existential experiences of solitude, longing, and uncertainty. For Kar, video is not a cinematic but a sculptural medium. By bringing together diverse cultural forms—such as theatre, animation, and drawing—he condenses opposing emotions into a stripped-down visual language that hovers between the grotesque and tenderness. The characters in his animations are often caught in repetitive cycles of speech and movement. Through this repetition and absence of progression, Kar reflects on death as a metaphysical and emotional condition. Working with composers and voice actors, Kar builds auditory layers that deepen the emotional resonance of each work. His animated figures speak of their interior lives, creating a direct intimacy with the viewer. In these works, the screen is not only a surface but also a psychological and emotional space that invites the viewer to introspection. For his first institutional solo exhibition in Switzerland, Kunsthalle Basel becomes the stage for a new theatrical production spanning multiple rooms.
Press release from Kunsthalle Basel
Image: Özgür Kar. Snake Charmer. 2021. Installation view from MACABRE, Fondation Louis Vuitton (FR), 2021. Photography by Marc Domage. Image courtesy of the artist and Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, Édouard Montassut, Paris und Emalin, London
