DEVR M ERB L PAINTING EXHIBITION AT SELÇUK YAŞAR ART

DEVRİM ERBİL PAINTING EXHIBITION
AT SELÇUK YAŞAR ART GALLERY AND MUSEUM
One of the greatest masters of the Turkish contemporary art of painting,
Devrim Erbil’s works have been put on display for art lovers at Selçuk
Yaşar Art Gallery and Museum from 04 February 2010.
Born in 1937 in Uşak, Devrim Erbil was admitted to İstanbul State
Academy of Fine Arts, Department of Painting in 1955. He studied first in
the Academy’s gallery section under Halil Dikmen and later in the studio of
Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu. In 1959, he founded the Soyutçu 7′ler (Seven
Abstractionists) group. He graduated from the painting department of
İstanbul State Academy of Fine Arts, where he became a teaching
assistant in 1962, undertaking duties in the studios of Bedri Rahmi
Eyüboğlu, Cemal Tollu, and Cevat Dereli. In 1963, Erbil founded the Mavi
(Blue) group in association with Tülay Tura, Altan Gürman, Adnan Çöker
and Sarkis. In 1965, Erbil was awarded an art scholarship by the Spanish
Government and conducted professional work and research in Madrid and
Barcelona. He continued his studies in Paris and London. In 1969, he
served as the president of the Turkish Association of Contemporary
Artists. He became an associate professor at the Academy in 1970. In
1975, he served as the president of the Association of Visual Artists.
Devrim Erbil was appointed director of the Istanbul Museum of Painting
and Sculpture in 1979. In 1981, he became a full Professor at the
Academy and became chairman of the Department of Painting at Mimar
Sinan University in 1985. He was appointed to the position of chairman at
the Department of Fine Arts, Yıldız University in 1988, and to vice dean at
the Faculty of Fine Arts, Mimar Sinan University in 1990. Having retired
from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in 2004, the artist has been
appointed as the dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts and Design at Doğuş
University, a position he currently holds.
Erbil has been honored with the title "State Artist", as well as a museum
named after him by Balıkesir Municipality: Devrim Erbil Contemporary Arts
Museum. Winner of two major international awards, the artist has been
given the Tehran Biennial Royal Palace 1st prize in 1966 and Alexandria
Biennial 2nd prize in painting in 1972.
Devrim Erbil opened hundreds of exhibitions in Turkey and participated in
numerous joint exhibitions abroad. Accoladed with numerous awards in
and out of Turkey, the artist’s works have been selected for inclusion in a
number of public and private collections.
A powerful name of abstract expressionism in Turkish painting, Devrim
Erbil’s works from collections “İstanbul Paintings”, “From Kadifekale to
İzmir”, “Rhythmic Construct” and “Rhythmic Beat”, which he works on
alternatingly, will be the main focus of this exhibition.
The primary influence a Devrim Erbil painting leaves on the spectator is
that of a composition made up of lines, colors and textures. Devrim Erbil
assimilates his impressions of the nature, blending them with his
enthusiasm for life, sensitivity and artistic creativity, and working them
into the canvas like needlework.
The texture created by layers of lines, colors and spots is Devrim Erbil’s
subjective interpretation, his unique style he built at the start of his
artistic career, in which he excelled over time.
Devrim Erbil likes to look at İstanbul from afar, keeping his distance. He
either looks at the city from the sky drawing its map, or places the city’s
landmarks in the focal point and reflects their surroundings on the canvas.
From both perspectives, İstanbul arises as a metropolis that lives and
hides its problems in between textures.
The exhibition will be on at Selçuk Yaşar Art Gallery and Museum until 27
February 2010 for lovers of art wishing to take a journey in the poetic
world of Devrim Erbil and to turn an ear to the inner voice of life.
TALK SESSION WITH DEVRİM ERBİL AT SELÇUK YAŞAR ART MUSEUM
AND GALLERY
One of the greatest masters of Turkish contemporary painting, Devrim
Erbil, a faculty member of fine arts and design at Doğuş University, had a
talk session at Selçuk Yaşar Art Gallery on 23 February 2010.
Constructed on the texture formed by the artist’s layers of lines, colors
and spots, which makes up his subjective interpretation and his unique
style built at the start of his artistic career and excelled over time, a slide
show has been presented during this session to the students of Işılay
Saygın Anadolu High School of Fine Arts, Ümran Baradan Anadolu High
School of Fine Arts and Yaşar University Faculty of Fine Arts. Attended by
a large crowd, the session has been highly satisfactory for the artist and
for the students...
Having featured in hundreds of solo and joint exhibitions in Turkey and
abroad, and honored with numerous awards, the artist’s works take place
in a number of public and private collections. The exhibition will be on at
Selçuk Yaşar Art Gallery and Museum until 27 February 2010 for lovers of
art wishing to take a journey in the poetic world of Devrim Erbil and to
turn an ear to the inner voice of life.