For his Chinatown series, Mehmet Gözetlik recreates well-known Western logos with the view to reflect our branded world through Chinese letters, while using a classical ‘neon sign’ style he associates with China. By using basic words for translation, such as ‘Caramel Macchiato’ for ‘Starbucks’ and ‘Car’ for ‘Ford’ in order to maintain a visual continuity, he replaces the English words we’re used to seeing with the Chinese translation of the products being sold.
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The result is a carefully arranged series of works with a clear visual narrative.
With China's economy now the biggest in the world, Gözetlik believes that to approach the market, there is a balancing act that global brands in China must achieve to be both successful worldwide but also show commitment and desire to be part of the local culture. By arranging the words this way, the Chinatown works push viewers to ask themselves what it means to see, hear, and become fully aware, not only of a brand, but of how we interpret visual messages.
Each of Gözetlik’s logos has been created in neon spot colours. Although neon lights are not used as a medium - the works are presented as photographs - they seek to represent a cultural symbol and what can be seen as the aesthetic codes of China.
Born in Izmir, Turkey in 1977, Mehment Gözetlik graduated from Hacettepe University Faculty of Fine Arts in 1999 before moving to Istanbul three years later, where he currently resides. After completing his Masters degree at the city’s Bilgi University in 2008, he set up a collective platform called Antrepo, which lead to his participation in contemporary exhibition Art Beat Istanbul. In 2010 he created a project called ‘Minimalist Effect in the Maximalist Market’ which was exhibited at Reason Design Emotion, a sub-theme of the Beijing International Design Triennial, alongside work by designers including Zaha Hadid, Norman Foster and Philippe Starck. The ideas from this project were a source of inspiration three years later for Selfridges’ 2013 ‘No noise campaign’. His first solo show was in 2012 at Gallery Işık in İstanbul, and since then he has been invited to show in national and international group exhibitions. Some of his works are part of the permanent collections of the Hacettepe Art museum and his limited editions have gained attention by art lovers all over the world and have been sold in 52 countries.
The Chinatown series is the result of two years of research and is exclusively available at Eyestorm. .