A Palestinian girl stands amid the rubble of her destroyed home on May 24, 2021, in Beit Hanoun, Gaza. (Photo: Fatima Shbair)
One of the most effective ways to highlight a disparity is through juxtaposition. Istanbul-based artist Uğur Gallenkuş has proven himself a master of this technique.
For years, Gallenkuş has captured parallel universes through his digital collages, juxtaposing photojournalistic imagery with scenes of idyllic lives. In a single image, the artist combines devastating photographs of famine and war with those of luxury and consumerism. These visual contrasts, in turn, directly respond to our current political climate and the precarious balance between security and destruction.
Given these parameters, Gallenkuş often gravitates toward sites of intense conflict, whether it be Afghanistan, Syria, or Iraq. Most recently, the artist has focused on repurposing images from Palestine, Ukraine, Yemen, and, during the wildfires, Los Angeles.
One such composition superimposes Grant Wood’s American Gothic on a Californian home engulfed in flames from the Eaton fire. The roof of the painting’s home is perfectly matched up with that of the burning one, creating a seamless transition between the two atmospheres. The contrast lies in the supposed permanence and splendor of a home, one that can be lost at any moment due to environmental disaster.
Other images, however, direct more attention on human subjects. In one, a woman clutches a little girl in the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on Gaza. The woman’s face is screwed into a wail while debris, fallen trees, and a destroyed vehicle are all scattered behind her. The composition’s bottom half is a complete tonal shift, featuring a smiling child gripping a woman’s hand as they walk through rain puddles in a peaceful neighborhood.
These collages are exercises in empathy as much as they are in prompting action.
“Gallenkuş considers his art a humanitarian endeavor as well as an aesthetic one,” the artist’s biography reads. “His creations compel us to reflect on the consequences of our actions and inspire a collective call for peace. Now, more than ever, we need art that transcends borders, fostering understanding and unity.”
To discover more of his heartwrenching digital collages, visit Uğur Gallenkuş’s website and follow him on Instagram.
Turkish artist Uğur Gallenkuş creates devastating digital collages that juxtapose photojournalistic imagery with scenes of idyllic lives.
A woman holding a little girl reacts after Israeli airstrikes hit the Ridwan neighborhood of Gaza City, Gaza, October 23, 2023. (Photo: Ali Jadallah)
A Ukrainian soldier is treated for leg injuries caused by shelling at his frontline post, July 2023. (Photo: Diego Herrera)
A home is engulfed in flames during the Eaton fire in the Altadena area of Los Angeles County, January 8, 2025. (Photo: Josh Edelson)
Each digital collage highlights the disparities between war, famine, security, and consumerism.
Injured children at Al-Shifa Hospital after Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City, October 12, 2023. (Photo: Samar Abu Elouf)
Haitian immigrants cross the Rio Grande back into Mexico from Del Rio, Texas on September 20, 2021, to Ciudad Acuna, Mexico. (Photo: John Moore)
Followed by their mother Natasha, Yarik Stepanenko, 11, pushes his twin sister Yana’s wheelchair along a corridor of a public hospital in Lviv, Ukraine, May 12, 2022. (Photo: Emilio Morenatti)
Gallenkuş has created collages focusing on several sites of intense conflict, including Palestine, Ukraine, Yemen, and Syria.
A Palestinian man carries a little girl after pulling her from under the rubble of hers house destroyed by the Israeli airstrike, Dec. 2023. (Photo: Motaz Azaiza)
A man holds the body of his daughter who died in the earthquake, after her body was retrieved from a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras, southeastern Türkiye, Feb. 7, 2023. (Photo: Necati Savaş)
Woman during the aftermath of the 2023 Turkish earthquakes.
Uğur Gallenkuş: Website | Instagram
My Modern Met received permission to feature images by Uğur Gallenkuş.
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