Overrated Land, Sedat Girgin’s third solo exhibition at Galeri 77, consists of paintings all produced in 2020. Focusing on the criticism of society of spectacle, his works question artificial identities and fake perceptions on social media which have gained even more of an importance during the course of the pandemic.

Sedat Girgin, who has illustrated several books from many authors, uses the same junction of writing-drawing during the production process of his paintings for the exhibition. Expressing his instantaneous feelings with keywords and various notes, the artist seems to be preparing a storyboard. But instead of sharing these written feelings, he chooses to invite the audience into his imaginary world.

Girgin’s paintings share the tense atmosphere reflected by the hands in the portraits of Egon Schiele, the neurotic personality disorders that Oskar Kokoschka depicts, and the symbolic narrative of the surrealist painters, while his fabulous depictions from his book illustration practice reveals his original style.

Starting from the issue of stereotypical profiles created in social media such as Instagram and Facebook, which shape contemporary digital-visual culture, Girgin indirectly addresses the artificiality in social media and reveals the damage caused by the personal and social value conflicts, conformism and its psychological effects. Reflecting the inner reckoning of figures isolated from everything but themselves in his paintings, the artist focuses on the feeling of loneliness behind the desire to be on stage, to see and to be seen. While the fragmented narration of the portraits anonymizes subjects, the performative actions of the characters on stage-like spaces resemble posted pictures and stories on Instagram. However, Girgin’s paintings go beyond visuality, direct the viewer to an intense sensation and introspection. Thus, “self-care” replaces expectations for likes and followers.

Sedat Girgin reminds us of the importance of self-ethics in this difficult and troublesome isolation process where we are under obligation to renounce our social life. He recommends an introversion in the sense of dreaming, concentrating on ideas and concepts, entering the world of thought.

Cem Boluktas, November 2020