ISTANBUL.- Ali Cabbar shows his admiration and respect for great Robert Indiana with a work in his latest exhibition in Istanbul. He has reworked Indiana's "Love" into "Like" in the same style, based on the idea that in today's world earning "Likes" has become more important than love.

He visualizes the fleeting contemporary aesthetics of ‘like-ing’ that can almost be measured in milliseconds on the basis of retweets and favorites with the sketch version of the sculpture Like {Not Love} / Homage To Robert Indiana and reveals his mischievous sympathy for the avant-garde, displaying a digital art technique which features the use of a BIC biro to boot.

Ali Cabbar’s latest solo show Placebo Effect is on view at Amerikan Hospital Operation Room Gallery, from April 2 until May 10, 2015. The exhibit features his latest works in pop and street art styles, ballpoint pen drawings, stencils and vinyl cuts on paper. There is also an installation and a 3D object included in the show.

Inspired by the name of the gallery (Operation Room) and its unique location in a medical complex, Ali Cabbar explores the idea of placebo effect in a social context and analyses controversial issues —politics, contemporary art, sports and alcohol among others — that causes extreme polarization in Turkey today. He argues that although originally a medical concept, placebo appears in our daily lives in various forms such as comfort food and drink (taken orally) or empathy and tolerance (conveyed by emotions), and iconizes them as possible placebos used by the people of Turkey.

The exhibition is accompanied by a 116-page illustrated catalogue which includes an article by AICA Turkey president and art critic Evrim Altuğ.