Cass Bank Gallery presents a survey of flyposting works by Mustafa Hulusi. This is the first time that a selection of this part of the artist’s oeuvre, a consistent and ongoing part of his output since 1998, has been brought together.

The exhibition offers an opportunity to experience a range of these works, asserting their role as an integral part of Hulusi’s practice. It is a reminder of the potency and pertinence of these images, despite their presentation beyond their original context in the public realm. The mutable encounters on the street are replaced by the gallery setting, allowing us to engage with the assembled works at a different pace. However, far from claiming an ‘elevated’ status within the gallery, or being adapted to a more amenable format, the images are still true to their conception as works for flyposting. The crude pasting of the posters leaves smeared traces after application; together with the modular presentation integral to many of these works, their mode of display is very much apparent, acting as a foil to the aesthetic qualities of the images. They reference aspects of both ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture, ranging from art historical and kitsch iconography to graphic and design styles. Their appropriation tactics seek to remind us of their role within what might be seen as a collective memory, where images and references become unhinged from their attributed status or hierarchies and are presented as ultimately democratic and shared, open to interpretation and contemplation. The eclecticism of Hulusi’s imagery is testimony to the fact that notions of beauty are in the eye of the beholder.

The images in the show have been realised as posters or billboards flyposted as illicit interventions primarily around London, the artist’s home city. Some of the images have also appeared in paintings, whilst others have only been used as posters. Abstract motifs are sometimes coupled with representational images or presented on their own, the resulting works managing to be both knowing in their referents but also enticing in the stylistic realms they invite us to consider and engage with all over again.

The prominent, rough physicality of flyposting’s presentation methods emphasises its analogue qualities, whilst its vulnerable, perishable status asserts its ephemeral, transitory nature. Pomegranates No.1 (2014) depicts a very loaded, traditionally aestheticised symbol of fertility and abundance, representing it in a startlingly beautiful yet realistic, unadorned way, imbuing it with the resonance of a vanitas painting. A version of this work is also presented in a newspaper format edition and copies can be taken by the audience, creating another form of dissemination. Expander (2006), newBuild (1999) and Checkered (1998) plunder and customise another rich source of imagery from the plethora of available typeface fonts and abstract designs. Surface Poster (Cypriot Olive Tree) (2011) further highlights Hulusi’s Levantine reference points amongst his repertoire, an aspect which could, in part, be interpreted as a homage to his Turkish Cypriot origins. Depicting a close-up of the aged bark across several panels, the frieze-like work renders it both timeless and in the here and now.

Mustafa Hulusi lives and works in London. Recent solo exhibitions include Propagating Ambient, The Page Gallery, Seoul; The Golden Age, Max Wigram Gallery, London, (2014). In 2007 Hulusi represented Cyprus (with Haris Epaminonda) in the Venice Biennale. His work is featured in a number of collections, including Tate; The Zabludowicz Collection; UBS; British Council; Saatchi Collection.