Philosophical Thoughts on Visual Arts  

By Heidi Trautmann

On Saturday, 05 September 2020, at a wisely chosen hour of the day, at 10 o’clock, when the brutal heat of the last weeks would not yet keep us indoors, Veysi Soyer and Mustafa Muezzinoglu, visual artists, presented their book ‘Küçükevren – Microcosmos’ to the audience at the Atatürk Cultural Centre in Nicosia.

A book that is based on many conversations between two artists, on the exchange of experiences in visual arts, that is painting, graphic work on the one side and art photography on the other side and they came to some conclusions.

I have been following both artists for some time, and the basic philosophy of their artistic work is well shown with the following link when Veysi Soyer invited visual artists to a workshop with following exhibition.

http://www.heiditrautmann.com/category.aspx?CID=4684412538#.X1b89lUzaUk

Visual arts, what is it. It is well explained in the book by both artists. I myself could add my  thoughts about it over many pages and somehow we would all meet on the same road. Visual art requires an open mind with our physical senses wide open to receive messages and to be able to understand and read them and finally to interpret them in your own language, with your own handwriting.

The question of the symbolic language in the visual arts is met by both artists equally and they use it frequently in their work. Society is led by symbols, emotions are expressed by symbols, economy is ruled by symbols.

I know Veysi Soyer as an eager traveler in Mediterranean countries and with his camera he has brought us close to the cultural niches and identities. In his paintings he tends to minimalism breaking down an image into pure symbols, almost calligraphy. Mustafa Müezzinoğlu I know from the beautiful and sensitive portraits he did of young women he typified into somehow ancient womanhood, emotional, warm, full, motherly womanhood, the mystery of womanhood. Also here the importance of symbolic language is in the foreground. He is generally interested in the human being as such, its soul and cultural background.

The book is written in Turkish and English and will be available shortly in all bookstores as I have been informed. It is available as hardcover and softcover books. Both artists are on facebook.