When Mustafa Kemal Ataturk founded the Republic of Turkey in 1923, he set about reforming the country’s political, economic and cultural policies, most notably by implementing secular reforms that separated religion from the state. In the artistic realm, Ataturk maintained funding for the tradition established in the late 19th century by Ottoman reformists of training local artists in Western figurative art styles at the Academy of Fine Arts (what is today Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts).
Contemporary artist Memduh Kuzay, whose exhibit Shall We Dance? Istanbul is currently on display at Wingrow Art Gallery (萬菓國際藝術公司), is an heir to Ataturk’s reforms. The 12 works on view offer a glimpse into two periods of his work, radiant figurative canvases painted between 2000 and 2007, and brooding abstract works completed thereafter.
A self-proclaimed “fan” of Ataturk, Kuzay graduated from Mimar Sinan University before heading off to the US to work as an artist and consultant. On his return to Turkey in the 1990s, he created realist scenic paintings of buildings, landscapes and ports that took their aesthetic cue from Turkey’s mosaic traditions. The thick brushstrokes, rendered to take account of light, bear a striking resemblance
PHOTOS COURTESY OF WINGROW ART GALLERY
to impressionism.
At the time, Kuzay employed a mosaic style as a nod towards Turkey’s rich artistic heritage, said Wingrow manager Real Chen (陳之恩). In 2000, however, Kuzay completely changed his compositions, adapting silhouetting techniques from ancient Greek pottery to depict animals and humans while retaining the rich colors of his scenic works. He also added rhythmic geometric patterns found in Islamic art.
One representative 2006 canvas (all the paintings on display are without titles) is a mise-en-scene of radiant color that focuses the viewer’s attention on the center of the canvas.
The outer region is a pattern of expressive dabs of blue, green and black with dribbles of white here and there reminiscent of Jackson “the dripper” Pollock. A second geometric pattern of solid burnt umber overlaid with flecks of yellow, red and orange frames the centerpiece, which is a silhouette of a rooster and snake surrounded by smaller dancing figures.
In 2008 Kuzay changed his style again. Chen made a lot about the fact that collectors are obsessed with artists who can re-invent themselves. And yet, there seems to be something else going on here. Notably lacking the radiant colors and celebratory atmosphere of his earlier paintings, these post-2008 abstract canvases exude a brooding and tempestuous aspect.
The only canvas on view from this period is soaked in red with flecks of orange and purple and surrounded by veil-like matrixes of dripping black. Although it retains geometric shapes, silhouetted through vague landscapes of greens and blues, the canvas suggests a morose psychological disposition in the painter.
This aesthetic shift perhaps hints that Kuzay is telling a story about the deeper tensions Turkish society, between Asia and Europe, modernity and tradition. He incorporates aspects of these both onto his canvases, which are rendered as a visual narrative of contemporary Turkish society.
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