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.

Residents wearing masks rest in the shade near a graffiti of a dragon, Friday, May 27, 2022, in Beijing. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

Construction workers walk past a mural in Phnom Penh on September 6, 2022. (Photo by Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP Photo)

A man looks at the description of a sculpture depicting 17-year-old male chimpanzee Jaska, by Gillie and Mark, in London, Tuesday, September 20, 2022. (Photo by Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)

An exhibition staff member looks over artworks by Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz on display during a preview of the exhibition “Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope” at the Tate Modern in London, Britain, 15 November 2022. The large-scale Abakan sculptures have been brought together for the first time in the UK. The exhibit opens on 17 November 2022 and runs until 21 May 2023. (Photo by Andy Rain/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

An artist draws a mural on a wall during a wall painting competition in Amritsar on February 25, 2023. (Photo by Narinder Nanu/AFP Photo)

A gallery worker poses with work by artist Elinor Stanley during a press preview of The RA Schools Show 2023 at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, Britain, 08 June 2023. The RA Schools Show 2023 runs from 08 to 25 June 2023 at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. (Photo by Neil Hall/EPA)

Austrian artist Erwin Wurm on Thursday, June 8, 2023 with his work Truck II, 2011, as he presents first UK museum exhibition and his largest show to date featuring over 100 works indoors and in the landscape at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield. (Photo by Danny Lawson/PA Images via Getty Images)