Fine humour in the true meaning of words

By Heidi Trautmann

To take something literally, to lift the cover and look underneath for a true meaning and from its findings develop a new image, actually the true image. Let me explain:  woman meets man and they both start to play the game of love, entwine the other with yarn, (in the German language we have just the right term: ‘umgarnen’) and this is taken literally by the artist: two figures entwined by the yarn of the other. Lovely. Mixed media, average size 50x70.  You enter the ArtRooms in the basement of The House and start to smile and the smile does not leave you, some pearls of laughter keep coming up, and when you leave the venue after a while you feel happy and surprisingly satisfied. OK, you will say, this is another way of seeing things.

It is with the eyes of a caricaturist, illustrator, who seeks to speak a language without words, who seeks an absurd approach to bring the truth forward: I like the one painting where a table is laid nicely at the border of the sea and on each plate a piece of nature is served, a segment of the cloud, a piece of the sun and I find the glass filled with a chunk from the blue sea. Delightful.

Or the man who wants to look over the wall and puts together all the ladders he can find to step on, instead of leaning one against the wall and mount it: it could be a sample image for bureaucracy: why simple when it can be complicated?  Or on the same level, men pushing square blocks with great difficulty except the one who carves off the edges and rolls the piece away ahead of the others.  What a nice tale of someone hanging up eyes for drying on a washing line. Or what would be if there were many moons and only one star? A crazy romantic world it can be if you feel like that. Or the peace dove thinking: a simple branch will not be enough, I better take the whole tree. You see what I mean?

Gürbürz Doğan Ekşioğlu was born in Ordu in Turkey in 1954. He continued to lecture at the same university where he has graduated from, the Graphic Department of Marmara University. After his retirement after 26 years he held the position of Ass.Prof.Dr. at Yeditepe University Fine Arts Faculty, Graphic Design Dept. He has won many prizes, international and national and his works were published in 17 countries. Seven of his cover works have been published in The New Yorker Magazine. Must I say more?

I succeeded in taking a photo with me included as reflection in the glass in the shower of stars poured over the earth from a bottle. How exciting.

Please find the photos taken by me on the occasion of my visit on my website with some comments.

The exhibition will be open for the public until 04 May from midday until midnight. For information call Oya Silbery, the curator, 0542 856 7077.