OnstOn – Can Yeşiloğlu was born in 1981 in Izmir, a Mediterranean city exposed to lots of migration movements throughout history until today. A serial of drawings in the Frame of the Mahalla Festival narrate stories of Love, Hate, Caring and the appeal for Unity in Diversity.

OnstOn’s surrealist style is corresponding with Sergej Prokofiev’s satirical but highly political motivated humanitarian based framework of thoughts. It seems as if the drawings build a wandering tower and are walking around. Composer Prokofiev wrote the short story “The Wandering Tower” 1918 on a Train. They were attacked by Troops battling in WWI. Prokofiev’s mother had to flee to Istanbul and was detained on the Princes’ islands. Stormy days patterned by intended and forced mobility, just like today. Pandemic Lockdowns, difficulties to get Visa, forced migrants stuck, forced migrants drowning in the Mediterranean Sea are the tragedies of this century.

Can Yeşiloğlu spend his 20s by focusing on color and pattern works to reveal the images of the sub consciousness. He was the founding member of formations such as Surrealist Action Turkey, Periferi Collective. He participated in various interdisciplinary exhibitions and organizations. The artists had his latest personal exhibition “Planet OnstOn” in April 2019 in Galeri Bu Pavillion and he records all his work on www.canyesiloglu.com. In recent years, he has been experimentally producing in different disciplines on storytelling. The main productions include animation and comic books. He enjoys placing his approach in charcoal pattern works in his animated frames.

OnstOn – Can Yeşiloğlu