Istanbul-based Ali Gulec is a graphic artist with a difference. His surreal illustrations are like identikit drawings aiming to prosecute the material arts. Working on the margins of what is possible with his medium, Gulec's forms, figures, and situations are remarkable for their clarity and strength of purpose, and maintain an iconographic intensity that would make any rock band bereft of an album cover salivate with admiration.

Fans dressed as Darth Vader and Chewbacca take a boat trip to the Skelligs on May 4, 2018 in Portmagee, Ireland. The first ever Star Wars festival is taking place against the backdrop of the famous Skellig Michael island which was used extensively in Episode VII and Episode VIII of the popular science fiction saga. The small fishing village of Portmagee, which is closest to the location, has seen a boom in tourism following the latest films. The vilage will host a Star Wars drive-in and a Star Wars themed Irish dancing competition over the weekend. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

An activist blocks a highway during a protest demanding the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas and calling for the Israeli government to reverse its decision to take over Gaza City and other areas in the Gaza Strip, near the city of Lod, Israel, Tuesday, August 26, 2025. (Photo by Ohad Zwigenberg/AP Photo)

Children react after what activists said was shelling by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad near the Syrian Arab Red Crescent center in the Douma neighborhood of Damascus May 6, 2015. (Photo by Bassam Khabieh/Reuters)

A protester dressed as a clown holds an umbrella over a Swiss police officer on a motorbike during a May Day demonstration in Zurich, Switzerland on May 1, 2017. (Photo by Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters)

Men slide in the mud during the Boryeong Mud Festival at Daecheon Beach in Boryeong, South Korea, Saturday, July 22, 2017. The 20th annual mud festival features mud wrestling and mud sliding. (Photo by Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo)

Demonstrators perform a dance in front of riot policemen during a march called by students to request changes in the education system in Santiago, Chile September 5, 2017. (Photo by Ivan Alvarado/Reuters)

A boy shoots a World War II machine gun armed with blanks at an weapon exhibition during a military show near Kirovsk, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) east of St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, January 21, 2018. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)