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.

“At her job, Maria Torero cares for sick human beings. At home, she lavishes love on slowly dying cats – 175 of them at last count. The 45-year-old nurse has turned her two-story, eight-room apartment into a hospice for cats with feline leukemia, scattering it with scores of feeding dishes and at least two dozen boxes litter boxes. Some have suggested she shelter healthy cats instead. “That's not my role”, she told The Associated Press. “I'm a nurse. My duty is to the cats that nobody cares about”. She said that “people don't adopt adult cats, especially if they are terminally ill”. – Franklin Briceno via Associated Press. (Photo by Martin Mejia/AP Photo)

Taras Mychalewych, 75, poses for a portrait with his vaccination card after receiving his coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at a rural vaccination site in Columbus, New Mexico, U.S., April 16, 2021. (Photo by Paul Ratje/Reuters)

A child in a Supergirl costume pays respects as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lies in repose under the Portico at the top of the front steps of the U.S. Supreme Court building, in Washington, U.S. September 23, 2020. (Photo by Alex Brandon/Pool via Reuters)

“Atheris is a genus of venomous vipers found only in tropical subsaharan Africa, excluding southern Africa. Confined to rain forest areas, many members have isolated and fragmented distributions. In an interesting example of convergent evolution, they show many similarities to the arboreal pit vipers of Asia and South America”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Atheris squamigera. (Photo by David Williams)

A man protesting the Ferguson grand jury decision to not indict officer Darren Wilson in the Michael Brown case is arrested while marching through the streets on December 1, 2014 in New York City. Brown, an 18-year-old black man, was killed by Darren Wilson, a white Ferguson, MO police officer, on August 9. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

Demonstrators protest the shooting death of Alton Sterling near the headquarters of the Baton Rouge Police Department in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. July 9, 2016. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Reuters)

A Filipino woman wears a mask to try and protect against the spread of coronavirus in Malate district, Manila City on March 24, 2020. The Philippines has taken drastic measures to combat the spread of Covid-19. The entire country is under strict quarantine and the army is on the streets to monitor compliance. According to official figures, there are 462 positive cases and 33 dead in the Philippines, but it is thought that thousands of cases remain undetected due to lack of resources in a country where millions of people have no access to health care. In the poorest and most crowded areas, it’s almost impossible to adhere to the physical distancing required during quarantine. (Photo by Alejandro Ernesto/The Guardian)