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| In the studio of painter Orhan Taylan. |
Asmalimescid is a typical Beyoglu neighbourhood-apart from the fact that, for 30 years, most of the neighbours have been artists. And with artists come galleries, framers and even meyhanes...
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| Yusuf Katipoglu and the Semazen Palace. |
Karpuz Apt. Number 16
A visit to Sofyalı Sokak must begin at Yusuf Katipoglu's workshop in a 120-year-old Italian-designed building. Katipoglu is a 1968 graduate of the Istanbul State Fine Arts Academy Bedri Rahmi Eyuboglu Workshop. He has held over 30 exhibitions here and abroad. Katipoglu has lived in Asmalımescid for 7 years. For him, this is a lively, fresh place filled with surprises, artists and musicians. For the past 2-3 years, he has been working on a piece called "Semazen Palace". He was inspired by the sight of a leaf caught in a spider's web that was slowly turning in the wind. Katipoglu sees the act of turning in everyone: in a child learning to walk and in a dervish's whirl. He uses a variety of materials to explore the concept of turning. Katipoglu showed one of his drawings of a dervish to a Japanese guest and asked which Japanese character it most resembled: it was the character for "maturation". Katipoglu works with Asmalimescid's vagabonds to create his artworks, whose spinning shadows hypnotise the viewer.
Hamson Apt. Number 26
A little way down the same street is Orhan Taylan's workshop where he has worked for the past 7 years. Orhan Taylan graduated from the Academy in 1965 and has held many exhibitions in Turkey and elsewhere. In 1958-59, he would go to Refik's meyhane to eavesdrop on literary conversations. He explains that while artists are usually at the edge of society, they make up the majority in Asmalımescid. Taylan enjoys trying out different styles and upsetting people's expectations. For him, style is born from the collaboration of materials and media. In his paintings of women, Taylan does not seek to portray the beauty of form, but rather the beauty of expression and of grace. He tries to imbue an emotional content to his figures, thereby distancing himself from the superficial act of painting a beautiful woman.
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| Selim Karadana. |
İlic Han, Number 18
Sema Bicik graduated from the Academy in 1985. She says she has found the peace and inspiration that she needs to paint in Asmalımescid, her home for the past 2-3 years. She enjoys sharing ideas with other artists as well as the independence of working in her own home. Bicik says she can hear the music of a painting. She says that the true value of a painting is not the cost of brushes, canvases and paints: it is the sum of a person's life. Her most ambitious project of late is a large work on the 1915 Canakkale Gallipoli war. Her sources of inspiration are Diderot, Aristophanes, Yakut wine, unshelled walnuts, white coffee and music...
Number 13
Selim Karadana may not live in the heart of Asmalimescid, but, for over 20 years, it has been the home of his soul. He grew up listening to artists' conversations at Yakup. A 1985 graduate of the Academy, he bought the building he lives in 4 years ago. Whenrestored, it will be a gallery-workshop-home. He says that artists are neurotic, but-unlike, normal people who go to a doctor-artists seek their cure in creating art. His paintings are about the microcosmos and existence. Karadana believes that form is essential to art. His aim is to discover the hieroglyphs that signify what he sees. When these hieroglyphs are placed together, they form sentences which are the beginnings of content.| Helpful hints... |
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* Yusuf Katipoglu: Sofyalı Sok. No: 16/3, Beyoglu. Tel: +90 212-292 19 41 * The Orhan Taylan exhibition at Karsu Textile Art Gallery is on April 9, 2003. Workshop: Sofyalı Sokak 26/12, Asmalımescit, Beyoglu. Tel: +90 212-293 32 35. Bodrum-Demir workshop Tel: +90 252-367 12 02. e-mail: orhan@orhantaylan.com www.orhantaylan.com * Sema Bicik's latest works can be seen at her exhibition in her workshop on March 28. Workshop: Sofyalı Sok. İlic Han No: 18/12 Asmalımescid. Tel: +90 212-292 15 35. e-mail: biccikssb@hotmail.com. * Selim Karadana: Tarlabası Bulvarı, Demirbas Sok. No: 13. E-mail: karadana@hotmail.com |
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