MONSTER {ge.net.i.cal.ly.mod.i.fied}

Solo exhibition at Adas, Istanbul

Sept. 8 - Nov. 10, 2019

 

Ali Cabbar explores the complex and controversial terrain of genetically modified organisms in MONSTER [ge.net.i.cal.ly.mod.i.fied]. Assuming the role of a speculative food designer, he invites viewers to reconsider their relationship with what they consume. His futuristic fruits and vegetables—vivid, seductive, and engineered for durability and efficiency—blur the line between nourishment and design object.

Presented as a parallel event to the 16th Istanbul Biennial, the exhibition unfolds through installations, three-dimensional objects, paintings, and prints that reinterpret the tradition of still life. These works transform familiar forms into uncanny artifacts of a possible future.

Cabbar began his ongoing “GM Still Lifes” series in the early 2000s, at a moment when transgenic foods were entering global markets. By revisiting the still life genre—a historical symbol of abundance and mortality—he foregrounds the fragile boundary between the natural and the artificial. His work suggests that what is often framed as progress may also signal loss, raising urgent questions about human intervention, ecological balance, and the future of food itself.

​(Installation view photos by Kayhan Kaygusuz)