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Can Yağız: Not today either


  • Ely Center of Contemporary Art 51 Trumbull Street New Haven, CT 06510 USA (map)

Opening Reception Sunday, June 23rd, 3-5pm

“Similar to the first cold day of the year, when you grab a coat you haven't worn in a while and put your hands in the pockets, and find a piece of a receipt, a used tissue, a caramel wrapper, and a band-aid, also used. And not recognize who these fragments belong to.

I thought self as something innate, an enduring thread for the most part. Though it is more fragile, self can fragment, dissipate. It is difficult when memory becomes contested or one cannot reason with their doing.

At loose ends, such fragments became tangible comforts. Material had memory, in how a tissue soaked and how an envelope scuffed. It rendered progression.

I have been working these materials into collages. The degradation of these elements is integral to how I contemplate themes of belonging, selfhood, and decay. In addition, I approach this degradation through printing monotypes in succession without cleaning the plate, so the image degrades with each subsequent print.” - Can Yağız

Can Yağız was born in İstanbul, Türkiye, and currently lives and works in New Haven. Can received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Maryland Institute College of Art, and Master of Fine Arts from Yale School of Art.

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