| Coplu |
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ARTIST STATEMENT | BIOGRAPHY | SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
Click for larger version, then mouse over to see NEXT or PREV buttons to navigate through images. My paintings are full of hope and emotions that the human beings hold within their soul and mind but shed away with the society's strict rules. "When there is a feeling painted as in the "Love" series, I try to express the different patterns of behaviors and characters of human beings, by observing every aspects and formation of this emotion and human's interaction with it. I believe there is love in all living creatures' behavior and it is a beautiful feeling when approached and expressed appropriately. I try to provoke viewer's thoughts with contradictions of this feeling because most human acts partake of both.
I combine three creative elements in the simplest but most effective way to define my themes, so that people from any nationality, race or age can understand them. These distinguishing elements on my paintings are vibrant and contrasting colors, humor and universal symbols. Coplu Coplu based in Vancouver- Canada, was born in Ushak, Turkey, a city famous for its carpets. His family was involved in the carpet business so they spent their days making dyes, coloring yarns, drawing figures and matching patterns. When he was a child his mother carried him in her backpack while weaving and she would explain what the various patterns meant and the effects of color in carpets. He moved to Istanbul when he was six and he lived there for thirty years. The sixties and seventies were periods of optimism, socialism and humanism in Turkey but the 80's brought very difficult political and social events. In response to censorship and oppression of freedom of expression he began to draw cartoons. His passion for drawing grew as he was studying to become a mining engineer at Istanbul University, but he found he could not keep his mind on his studies while it was completely occupied with social issues. He witnessed great turmoil in his day to day life which he documented in his art and it was not long before his art became more important to him than his studies.
He contributed cartoons to the Turkish Daily News for over five years. He established the World's first Open Air Cartoon Exhibition Alley and the Cartoon School of Antalya. Under the auspices of these institutions he taught many pupils the art of seeing the humorous side of life. He began exploring other forms of visual art by using colors in cartooning and developing his own style of painting. He has been painting last fifteen years. Selected Exhibitions (Solo Shows) |
Whereas in the Dream series, I aim to raise awareness of importance having a dream in life, by painting pure white clouds floating in the clear sky and humans interaction with them. Thus giving them the sense of getting back to their natural senses, because humanity and its civilization is a journey of continues dreams. Dreams are burning vessel of life; they take us to the most desirable, sought after adventures, they make our lives nourishing and bearable; they are our lives' primary essence. This is why they are important themes of my paintings.
He participated in his first art exhibition in Istanbul in 1984, followed by many solo exhibitions in Turkey and group exhibitions in Italy, Japan, France, Germany, Belgium, Russia, Spain, USA and Canada. His illustrations have been published in numerous magazines, newspapers, books and catalogues both in Turkey and across Europe. Since his first international recognition in 1989 with the Nasreddin Hodja International Cartoon Competition Special Talent Award, he has received 25 awards in national and international competitions, including second prize in cartoon competition in Okhotsk - Japan.
