Mustafa Hulusi’s work combines a diverse series of references, including op art (optical art), Islamic art, advertising, and pop culture. Investigating how different visual “languages” shape our perception, his work explores the meaning of a publicised self and stardom. His work refers heavily to his Cypriot heritage, a combination of Middle Eastern and Western history. He often raises questions about the role of institutions in the art world and established his reputation with an extended series of “guerrilla” campaigns in which he saturated East London neighbourhoods with leaflets and posters.
An example of Mustafa's early billboard interventions from the early 2000's, exploring pop branding and disrupting/exploring celebrity.
An example of Mustafa's early guerilla artwork from the 1990s. Nicosia is the capital of Cyprus, Mustafa's home country.
One of Mustafa's photo-realistic paintings of flowers from his native Cyprus. The decision to make photo-realistic paintings, after his extended work with flat graphical imagery, gives this aspect of Mustafa's work another layer of meaning.
A classic example of Mustafa's iconic Expander series, referencing op art and pop imagery.
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An example of Mustafa's juxtaposing of different pop art references. High value, gold-leafed op art (optical art) sits incongruously next to a photorealistic painting of a Cypriot flower.
2010 Afyon, Max Wigram gallery, London
2009 Obliteration and Memory, Patrick Painter Inc, Los Angeles
2009 The Worshipers, Max Wigram gallery, London
2009 The Ruins, Civic Room, London
2008 Exstacy, Max Wigram gallery, London
2008 Iznik-Kibris-Londra, Galerist, Istanbul
2007 Cennet Bahcesi, A Foundation, Liverpool
2007 Field of Flowers, Max Wigram gallery, London
2005 The End of the West, Max Wigram gallery, London
2005 Mustafa Hulusi too, Rachmaninoffs, London
2010 Fall Out: War and Conflict in the British Council Collection, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
2010 Newspeak: British Art Now, The Saatchi Gallery, London
2009 Natural Wonders: New Art from London, Baibakov Art Projects, Moscow, Russia
2008 Beyond Paradise, Stedelijk Museum Bureau, Amsterdam, Holland
2007 The Elysian Paintings, Republic of Cyprus at the 52nd International Exhibition of Contemporary Art of La Biennale di Venezia, Venice.
2007 When We Build, Let Us Think We Build Forever, BALTIC, Gateshead Abstraction, Millennium Galleries, Sheffield, UK
2006 Into Me/ Out of Me, PS1, New York; Kunst Werke, Berlin.
2006 To Here, Bloomberg Space, London
2006 Right On/ Write Off, The Great Unsigned, Chapman Fine Arts, London
2005 East International 05, Norwich Culture Bound, Courtauld Institute, London
2005 The Condition of England, Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland
2004 New Contemporaries 04, 14 Wharf Road, London
