ARTIST BIO

AHMET YEŞİL (1954, Mersin) 

He lives and works in Mersin, Turkey. 

1973-1985       He studied painting with paintersNuri Abaç, İlhan Çevik ve Ernür Tüzün.

 2015-  Anadolu University Department of Sociology

In addition to private art collections in Turkey, he has paintings in important foreign collections mainly Germany, America, Canada, Netherlands, United Kingdom. Ahmet Yeşil, is a member of the Unicef International Association of Plastic Arts. So far he opened 105 personal exhibition, and joined 297 group and contest exhibitions.Received 24 awards in national and international contests.

ARTIST EXHIBITION RECORD  

SELECTED PERSONAL EXHIBITIONS (ABROAD)

2018.  Art Market, international contemporary art fair. Budapest

2018.  27.-15.K September-November,. penisula/galeri..7..CHINA/Peking.

2018. 19-23. September- Contemporary/İstanbul /Turkey

2018.19-22.. April..Art Expo.New York / USA

2017. 6- 28.September..Hayder Aliyev Cultere Center..Bakü/Azerbaycan

2016.. 8-12. Nov. international contemporary art fair kuo mu sheng.s.galeris Taipei/Taiwan

2016…29-15.Ekim.Tac mahalplace sergi salonu..Mumbai/ INDIA

2016   28.ekim.30.kasım.  Berlin / GERMANY

2016   1-17. Eylül gallery/art&soul.. Mumbai/ INDIA

2016    April, Taipei 101 Art Gallery, Taiwan

2016    1-15 February, Melina Culture Center, Athens / Greece

2014    Ludwig Galerie Schloss, Oberhausen / Germany

2013    Georgain National Museum, Tbilisi / Georgia

2012    Survivors Mostra d'arte Contemporanea a Firenze, Florence/Italy

2011    Visual Touches Exhibition, New York / USA

2011    Galerie Tuillier, Paris / France

2011    Earth Gallery, New Jersey / USA

2011    Florence Bienniale, Florence/Italy

2011    Miami Art Fair, Solo Exhibition, Miami / USA

2005    Gallery Hittite, Toronto / Canada

2005    Herrenhof Mussbach Art Gallery, Neustadt / Germany

2004    Lahey Hause of Art Gallery, Holland

2003    Amsterdam Hause of Art Gallery, Holland

2003    Monreal / Canada

ART WORKS IN MUSEUMS AND CORPORATE COLLECTIONS

Presidency of the Republic of Turkey

Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture

Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Republic of Turkey Ministry of Finance

Central Bank Republic of Turkey

Royal Collection Palace of the United Kingdom

Kushimoto Turkish Memorial and Museum Japan

D.Y.O. Education Foundation Museum

Ankara State Painting and Sculpture Museum

Municipality of Balıkesir Devrim Erbil Museum

Municipality of Körfez Museum

Eczacıbası Collection

Cumhuriyet Newspaper Museum

Uğur Mumcu Foundation

Hacettepe University Museum of Painting and Sculpture

Eskisehir University Museum of Contemporary Art

Tekel Collection

Akbank Collection

Vakıfbank Collection

Ziraat BankCollection

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS (ABROAD)

2015    Carrousel du Louvre Museum Salle le Nötre 99 rue S.N.B.A. Salon Paris / France

2015    29 October Republic Exhibition, Berlin/Germany

2015    24 July- 14 August, E. Arimany Art Gallery, Tarragon / Spain

2015    3 - 28 September, Mar Art Gallery, Barcelona / Spain

2015    8 - 28 October, Salduba Art Gallery, Zaragoza / Spain

2015    11 December 2015 - 7 January 2016, Terraferma Art Gallery, Lleida / Spain

2014    Carrousel du Louvre Museum Salle le Nötre 99 rue S.N.B.A. Salon Paris / France

2014    29 October, 90th Annivarsery… 90 Artists…, Berlin / Germany

2014    Kulture Inside Gallery, Luxembourg

2013    Carrousel du Louvre Museum Salle le Nötre 99 rue S.N.B.A. Salon Paris / France

2012    Rosso Opportunita, Survivors, Firenze/Italy

2012    Carrousel du Louvre Museum Salle le Nötre 99 rue S.N.B.A. Salon Paris / France

2011    Carrousel du Louvre Museum Salle le Nötre 99 rue S.N.B.A. Salon Paris / France

2011    Grand Palais Salon Exhibition, Paris/ France

2010    Gallery Daniel Besseiche, Paris/France

2010    Grand Palais Salon Exhibition, Paris / France

2009    VIth Euro-American Visual Arts Exhibition, Campeche / Meksika

2009    Zagreb / Serbia

2008    San Diego University Swap Exhibition, San Diego/ USA

2008    Carrousel du Louvre Museum Salle le Nötre 99 rue S.N.B.A. Salon Paris / France 2008       1-12 September, Plastic Arts International Festival, Monastir/Tunisia

2007    Carrousel du Louvre Museum Salle le Nötre 99 rue S.N.B.A. Salon Paris / France

2006    Marson de I’unescoColoir X-XL Place de Fontenoy, Paris / France

2006    Le centre Culturel Anatolie de Paris / France

BIENNIALS, EXHIBITIONS, SYMPOSIUMS AND WORKSHOPS

2015    Municipalityof Süleymenpaşa Picture Workshop, Tekirdag

2011    Portakal Çiçeği Art Colony, Sapanca/Sakarya

2011    Florence Biennale, Florence/Italy

2011    Miami Solo Expo International Art Center, Miami / USA

2009    VIth Euro-American Visual Arts Exhibition, Campeche / Meksika

2008    1-12 September, Plastic Arts International Festival, Monastir / Tunusia

2007    Contemporary Art and Life Gallery, Istanbul

2006    Ege University Art Fair, Izmir

2006    Bodrum ArtBiennale(Participating in the Crime), Bodrum

2006    Ankara University Art Symposium

2005    Tuyap Art Fair, Gallery Baraz, Istanbul

2005    Peace Society/Istanbul

2004    Arc-en-Ciel ParisArt Gallery, Tuyap Art Fair, Istanbul

2003    Arc-en-Ciel Paris Art Gallery, Tuyap Art Fair, Istanbul

2003    Ankara Art Fair, Nurol Art Gallery

2003    Arc-en-Ciel Paris Art Gallery, Tuyap Art Fair, Istanbul

2003    Istanbul Art Fair, Valör Art Gallery

2001    XIth Istanbul Art Fair, CEY Art Gallery, Istanbul

2001    3rd METU Art Festival, Ankara

1997    7th International Istanbul Art Fair, Istanbul

1996    6th International Istanbul Art Fair, Istanbul

AWARDS

2015    Adana Culture and Art, Painters Association Puduhepa Science and Art Honor Award/Adana

2014    "Choosing the Most for Mersin" Survey Result Best Painter Award/ Istanbul

2013    Vocational Service Award of the Year Ankara Gazi Rotary Club /Ankara

2013    Mersin 1st Cultural Activity of the City Service Award/Mersin

2012    International Association of Lions Club Melvin Jones Award

2011    The Louvre Museum, The Silver Medal in the Salon Exhibition Delegation Award, Carousel/Paris-France

2011    Mersin I.S.K. City Honor Award

2010    Best Picture of the Year - Ankara Arts Council Artist Award/Ankara

2009    The Louvre Museum, The Carousel Salon Exhibition Delegation Award/Paris-France

2004    3rd Mersin International Music Festival Arts Special Prize

1997    2ndMuseum of the Sea Command, 1st prize

1996    1stMuseum of the Sea Command,Third Prize

1995    Governorship of Kayseri Picture Contest Award

1993    26th D.Y.O. Picture Contest Grand Prize

1993    The Ministry of Culture 1st Cappadocia's Picture Contest Honorable Mention

1992    Adana Çimento Sanayi Painting Competition, Mention

1992    Tekel 6th Traditional Painting Competition 1st Prize

1992    Artist's View of Antalya, Painting Competition, Honorable Mention

1991    The Gulf's Picture Contest Honorable Mention

1990    T.P.A.O. Painting Competition 1st Mention

1989    Ordu Provincial Painting Competition 1st Mention

1985    Mersin International Painting-Sculpture-Ceramic Competition Honorable Mention

1983    Turgut Pura Contest Ministry of Culture Award

1982    Turgut Pura Contest,Izmir Painting And Sculpture Museum Award

SELECTED ARTIST BOOKS AND EXHIBITION CATALOGUES

Anonymous, Grand Palais Salon Exhibition Catalogue, Paris 2010

Celal Soycan, Tuvalde Oda Müziği, L. Ajans Yayınları, Ankara, 2015

Celal Soycan, Ahmet Yeşil Anlatmaktan Anlamaya-From Narration to Understanding, Mutlu Son Yayınları, Ankara 2006

Celal Soycan - Orçun Çadırcı, Ahmet Yeşil, Georgain National Museum Publication, 2013

Dilek Şener, Ahmet Yeşil, February 2007.

Mehmet Ergüven, Tarihsiz Günlükler Sergisi Kataloğu, Ekol Sanat Galerisi, Izmir, 2015

Mehmet Ergüven, Ahmet Yeşil, Bilim Sanat Yayınları, Istanbul2000

Mehmet Ergüven, Ahmet Yeşil, Bilim Sanat Yayınları, Istanbul1996

Orçun Çadırcı, Visual Touches, New York, 2011.

Türk Delegasyonu/Delagation De La Turquie, Societe Nationale des Beaux Arts (S.N.B.A), Ahmet Yeşil, Salon 2007 Uluslararası Güzel Sanatlar Sergisi Kataloğu, Merinos Mobilya A.Ş, Izmir 2007

SELECTED FEATURING PUBLICATIONS

Abdulkadir Günyaz, O Günlerden Bu Günlere, Anılar Eleştiriler, Antik Sanat Galerisi Yayınları, Istanbul 2000, p. 22-23

Abdülkadir Günyaz, Sanat Çevresi, Istanbul March 1995, Issue:197, p.10

Ahmet Kamil Gören, Destek Reasürans Koleksiyonu, Destek Reasürans Sanat Galerisi, Istanbul 1998, p.248-250

Ahmet Kamil Gören, 50.Yılında Akbank Resim Koleksiyonu, Akbank Kültür ve Sanat Kitapları, Istanbul 1998, p. 256

Ahmet Köksal, Sanat Çevresi, Istanbul March 1995, Issue: 197

Anonymous, Carrousel du Louvre Museum Salle le Nötre 99 rue S.N.B.A. Salon Sergisi Katalogları, Paris 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2008, 2007.

Anonymous, Çağdaş Türk Plastik Sanatlar Koleksiyonu, Bilim Sanat Yayınları, IstanbulOctober 2002, p. 86-87

Anonymous, T.C.Ziraat Bankası Koleksiyonu, T.C. Ziraat Bankası, Ankara 1992, p.1657

Anonymous, T. C Maliye Bakanlığı Sanat Eserleri Koleksiyonu/The Republic of Turkey Ministry of Finance Art Craft Collection, T.C. Maliye Bakanlığı, Ankara 1998 (Metinler: Mehmet Özel, Hasan Mutlu, Nail Tan), p.106-108

Anonymous, Tekel Resim Koleksiyonu, Tütün, Tütün Mamülleri, Tuz ve Alkol İşletmeleri Genel Müdürlüğü, İstanbul 2002, (Metinler: Kaya Özsezgin, Kıymet Giray, Ahmet Özel, Nilgün Yüksel), p.184

Anonymous, Atatürk’ün Doğumunun 125.Yıldönümü Nedeniyle Türkiye Resimleniyor, T.C. Kültür Bakanlığı Güzel Sanatlar Genel Müdürlüğü, Ankara 2006, (Yozgat)

Anonymous, Karma Resim Sergisi, International Art Center, Istanbul February 2010

Ahmet Köksal, Milliyet Sanat, Istanbul 1995, Issue:357, p.49

Atilla Atar, Anadolu Üniversitesi Çağdaş Sanatlar Müzesi Koleksiyonu-Anadolu University Museum of Contemporary Arts Collection, Anadolu Üniversitesi Yayınları, 2008, p.374-375, 461

Ayla Ersoy,500 Türk Sanatçısı, Altın Kitaplar Yayınevi, Istanbul 2004, p.490

Ayla Ersoy, 1950'den 2000'e Günümüz Türk Resim Sanatı Ansiklopedisi, Bilim Sanat Yayınları, Istanbul 1998, p.148

Ayla Ersoy, Sanat Çevresi, Istanbul March 1995, Issue:197, p.8-9

Ayşe Yetmen, Portreler Dergisi, Istanbul July 2006, p.66-70

Bülent Özer, Sanat Çevresi, Istanbul March 1995, Issue:197, p.19

Canan Ekici, Ahmet Yeşil'in Yaşamı ve Eserleri,Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Gazi Üniversitesi Resim İş Bölümü, Ankara 1997

Celal Soycan, Rh+Sanat, IstanbulJune 2006, p.42-44

Ekrem Kahraman, Sanat Çevresi, Istanbul March 1995, Issue:197, p.19

Engin Turgut, Anons Sanat, Istanbul 1995, Issue: 48, p.28

Erdogan Tanaltay, Tak Gözlerimi Gönlüne Nazar Boncuğun Olsun,Tekin Yayınları, Istanbul1999, p.55

Erdogan Tanaltay, Sanat Ustalarıyla Bir Yaşam, Tekin Yayınevi, Istanbul 1994, p.214-219

Erdogan Tanaltay, Isırgan Tarlasında Gelincik,Tekin Yayınevi, Istanbul1993, p.30-31

Erdogan Tanaltay, Sanat Çevresi, Istanbul March 1995, Issue:197, p.16-18

Güröl Sözen, Sanat Çevresi, Istanbul March 1995, Issue:197, p.12-13

Hafize Uncuoğlu, Yüzde 100 Resim Sergisi, International Art Center, 28 May-28 July 2010 Istanbul, p.28

Hüseyin Gezer, Sanat Çevresi, Istanbul March 1995, Issue:197, p.19

Kaya Özsezgin, Türk Plastik Sanatçıları Ansiklopedisi, Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 1st edition, Istanbul 1994, p.333

Kaya Özsezgin, Türk Plastik Sanatçıları Ansiklopedik Sözlük, (Genişletilmiş 2.bs.), Yapı Kredi Yayınları, Istanbul 1999, p. 490-491

Kaya Özsezgin, Türk Plastik Sanatçıları Ansiklopedisi, Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 3rd edition, Istanbul 1999, p.333

Kaya Özsezgin, Dyo Resim Yarışmalarının Katkısı ile Türk Resim Sanatında 30 Yıl, Dyo-Yaşar Eğitim ve Kültür Vakfı Yayını, Ankara 1997, p.162

Kaya Özsezgin, Cumhuriyet Gazetesi, 22 August 2006

Kaya Özsezgin, Sanat Çevresi, Istanbul March 1995, Issue:197, p.19

Kaya Özsezgin, Türkiye'de Sanat, Istanbul 1996, Issue:22, p.66

Kaya Özsezgin, Milliyet Sanat, Istanbul 15.12.1998, p.45

Kaya Özsezgin, Milliyet Sanat, Istanbul, 01.01.1998, p.41

Kaya Özsezgin, Milliyet Sanat, Istanbul 1990, Issue:235, p.52

Kaya Özsezgin, Milliyet Sanat, Istanbul 01.12.1997, p.49

Kıymet Giray, Ziraat Bankası Koleksiyonu, Cilt: 1-4, T.C. Ziraat Bankası A.Ş., Istanbul 2009, C.2, p.422-429

Mehmet Ergüven, Görmece, Metis Yayınları, Istanbul, 1st Publication: October 1998, 2nd Publication: October 2007

Mehmet Ergüven, Sırdaş Görüntüler, Agora Kitaplığı, Istanbul 2007

Mehmet Ergüven, Genç Sanat, Istanbul September 1996, p.20-22

Mehmet Ergüven, Genç Sanat, Istanbul January 1998, p.34-35

Mümtaz Sağlam, Türkiye Cumhuriyet Merkez Bankası Sanat Koleksiyonu 1-Batılı Anlamda Türk Resim Sanatının Gelişme Aşamaları ve Koleksiyondan Örnekler, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Merkez Bankası, (1.bs.), Ankara November 2004, p.282

Mümtaz Sağlam, Hürriyet Gösteri, Istanbul 1996, Issue:191, p.74-75

Necdet Şen, Sanat Çevresi, Istanbul March 1995, Issue:197, p.19

Nermin Ergenekon Müldür, Mersin Dedikleri, Mersin2002

Nevit Kodallı Gılgameş,M.D.O.B. Programı, p.48

Nuran Turan, Atatürk ve Serdar Yalova'da, Mavi Bulut Yayınevi, Istanbul1997

Ömer Faruk Şerifoğlu, Cumhurbaşkanlığı Sanat Koleksiyonu (Resim, Modern Sanat, Hat) 1-3. Cilt, Cumhurbaşkanlığı Yayınları, Istanbul 2014, p.200-203

Önder Şanyapılı, Halkbank Koleksiyonu Kitabı, Halk Bankası Kültür Sanat Yayınları, Ankara 2000, p.428-429

Önder Şenyapılı, Benim Sanatçılarım 2, Sanat Yapım Yayıncılık, Ankara 1998, p.288-294

Önder Şenyapılı, Görsel Sanatlar ve İletişim, Sanat Yapım Yayınevi, Ankara 1996, p.30-32

Önder Şenyapılı, Sanat Çevresi, Istanbul December 1995, p.30-33

Sezer Tansuğ, Sanat Çevresi, Istanbul March 1995, Issue: 197, p.6-7

Suna Tanaltay, İskambil Evler, Tekin Yayınevi, Istanbul 1998, p.189-190

Suna Tanaltay, Sonsuzu Paylaşanlar, Tekin Yayınevi, Istanbul 1998, p.119

Suna Tanaltay, Ben Sevgiyim, Tekin Yayınevi, Istanbul 1997, p.146

Suna Tanaltay, Yaşam Nehri, Tekin Yayınevi, Istanbul 1995, p.123-125

Suna Tanaltay, Sanat Çevresi, Istanbul March 1995, Issue:197, p.14-15

Şefik Kahramankaptan, Resmi Geçit,İşbank Yayınları, Ankara 2001, p.241-244

Ümmühan Kazanç;Ahmet Yeşil Interview: Aklın ve Gözün Sonsuz İfade Gücüne Göndermeler, Antik Dekor, June-August Edition, Antik A.Ş. Kültür Yayınları, Istanbul 2009

Zeynep Yasa Yaman, Vakıfbank Sanat Defteri, Ankara 1997, p.194-1987

UNDERSTANDING AHMET YEŞİL

If we take the opening of his first painting exhibition in 1979 as a start, painter Ahmet Yeşil has been in the art scene for 37 years. His art is his life, and his life is his art. His workshop is his shrine. When outside his workshop, he visits important art events, museums and galleries, or attends the openings of group exhibitions at home and abroad. He’s opened 105 solo exhibitions, participated in 297 mixed and contest exhibitions, and received 24 awards. You may think “How did he manage to fit all these exhibitions in 37 years?”. The answers is pretty obvious to those who know him better. He doesn’t compromise on his principles, he’s disciplined and hard-working, and is constantly doing research when he’s off-project. He keeps the beat of culture, arts and political scene in Turkey as well as in the world. He draws patterns as well but his biggest pleasure is to read books in his extensive library of five or six thousand books. And, unlike many people, maximum three hours of sleep a day is enough for him.

Ahmet Yeşil doesn’t regard -isms or contemporary art movements as binding elements that limit his art to a certain category. Reflecting on and utilizing values that will enrich his art, he tries to form an individual way of expression. His brush strokes are one of a kind. Though he follows closely the fashion movements in the world and in Turkey, he clings to his own reality, developing his art as his brush portrays his longing, passions, excitement, emotions, ideas, pain and joy on the canvas. What needs to be emphasized is that he created an idiosyncratic visual language which can only be defined as “Ahmet Yeşil’s style”.

Let’s take a periodical look into Mr. Yeşil’s works. Not unlike many artists, his early period stands out with landscape paintings. During this period, the artist mostly produced paintings that could be defined as impressionistic. His second period, i.e. between 1980 and 1989, can be defined as the figure period, during which he approached women and children in a social and societal context.

It’d be right to define his third period (1990-1997) as the time when he really began to flourish like an artist. The image of rope - maybe because his mother was a tailor and he has a passion for the sea - began to attain an important place in his paintings. Laps and ropes started uniquely and freely appearing among ancient era statues, objects and archaeological images.

Strings and ropes became an essential part of his compositions during this period. In his fourth period as an artist, ropes and strings started taking up all the surface and content on the canvas. It starts changing, evolving. The period he uses ropes and strings can be divided into nine separate periods. In the first period, he included thematic symbols and figures. In the second period, he started creating installations on canvas using images of ropes and strings in a narrative. My Flowers, one of his most important series, is from the third period. In the fourth period, he created unique compositions with trees and forests. His fifth period witnessed some unforgettable pieces, dominated by sea and wave images. In the sixth period, which he named Lights and Shadows, we see the influences of minimalism, dominated by the language of image and plastic he created with only ropes and strings, instead of themes and symbols. These were compositions created by the illusion of light. The seventh period is known for the series Bul(uç)ma, the eighth period with Undated Diaries, in which he created a relief-like effect in further minimalized compositions.

His recent works are detached from any thematic narrative; fully minimalistic works created by plastic and artistic power become semiotic and open pieces. For those who still see ropes and strings in on his canvas, we can say this: In a dictionary, strings and ropes are objects that are associated with bindingness. However, on Ahmet Yeşil’s canvas, these objects are stripped off of their “binding” qualities and turn into tools that offer brand new interpretations in paintings, are images of the artist’s plastic language, and of expression. It’s not the ropes or strings that pull the onlookers into the world of art; it’s the poetic and individualistic compositions of blue, green, purple or red on canvas. Sometimes under the sea or above the waves, sometimes in a desolate forest or in a blue pregnant with shades of green. And this is what the artist wants - to create a deep dialogue between the onlooker and the pictorial image.

Ahmet Yeşil’s essay Yaratı Eşiğinde Halat Üzerine Notlar (Notes on a Rope on the Verge of Creation) is a manifesto of ropes and strings. He expresses himself as follows: Turning into an artistic object through the rope’s identity as an object, the string’s rhythm creates a cosmos together with the rhythm of lice. As this cosmos turns into a plastic language, it adds a unique identity to my art as well. Each moment and emotion in life is an homage to the relationship between the rope’s rhythm and the rhythm of life, shaped by the artist’s intuition and vision. The colors and lights on rhythmic curls of the rope are the reflection of our values. I try to use the objective identity of the rope to express every aspect of life - social, societal, political, economic, ecological and personal -by turning it into the ultimate work of art with plastic and aesthetic values.

The rope and string, through which I adopted the language of the plastic, have stripped off of their objective definition and took over their own narrative. Each phenomenon in my paintings have a signified in my life. After all, a language for which you cannot form a base is not your language at all. After creating your own plastic language in time, you start a search for technique through which you’ll express yourself. The moment you stop, you invade your own footprints. I haven’t had the luxury to put the time on hold to watch or observe the language of painting. The accumulation of your experiences is just an experiment to start anew. I don’t deny any of my experimentations and am open to the renewal forced upon me by plastic. The will for searching, awareness and reckoning form its own plastic renewal. In my recent works, the rope created its own transformation and power in plastic and image, without having to worry about anything but the painting itself. It’s plainer, more minimalistic. This is also an effort the solve the tension I have between me and life, painting and myself.

The reflection of the relationship, tension and effort to solve problems between painting and life on canvas, as Ahmet Yeşil mentions in his manifesto, doesn’t create a distance between the society and his art. His art is close to and relatable for everyone. This relationship is far more obvious in his essay, Görsel Dokunuşlar (Visual Touches):

The human condition to constantly face life’s realities is reflected as a confrontation between image and its values of meaning. This is a meeting between images/reflections in every aspect of life and what belongs to us.

Finding, meeting, union and exploration is to face one’s own reality. It is to meet the pure and unique reality of emotions and phenomenon. The aesthetic/plastic values created by art also forms an atmosphere that reflects on the world. It’s inevitable not to pass through these reflections, even for people who are focused on daily life and not interested in those, because way of seeing is the visual touch of the mind that perceives life, rather than merely looking at things. Regardless of your wish to do so, it catches them, absorbs them and pushes you towards a common perception with someone unexpected.

The visual provokes, covers and finds itself a place in the sensitivity of the aesthetic perception.

The perfect harmony of rhythm, balance, lyricism, lighting, shadow and bright colors (as if they’re meeting for the first time) in Ahmet Yeşil’s paintings enable onlookers from various cultures to immediately interact with the image. That’s why his pieces have been included in many personal and public collections in many countries, such as Turkey, Germany, the US, Canada, the Netherlands and the UK. The essay Tuvalde Oda Müziği (Chamber Music on Canvas, 2015) written by Celal Soycan for Ahmet Yeşil’s catalogue emphasizes the fact that the artist has adopted a plastic language that has been approved nationally and internationally. [...] Though one may think it hard to find a figural equivalent in the outside world, no onlooker who looks at these paintings feels any kind of anxiety. He feels open to people of all ages/culture/nationality because these paintings are artistic objections to the concept of mankind detached from nature in a socio-cultural way, i.e., Cartesian binary of Nature/Culture. these paintings promise mankind nature, one’s human nature. It discovers the power hidden in man’s true nature and revives it back to life. The familiarity with the cosmogonical atmosphere on canvas and large-scale paintings is a reflex of this naturality.

For this, the painting is purified of figures and voice-over; it’s plain and sterile. It’s a silent cry that belongs to humanity’s withdrawn joy for existence, nature, inside and outside, dark and light, and birth and death. [...] It’s enough to spend some time in front of his paintings that lure you in with their ordinary naturalness in order to understand, sense and feel Ahmet Yeşil’s art, extra-ordinary plastic language and visual feat. You’ll understand the paintings, and they’ll understand you in return.

ÜMMÜHAN KAZANÇ

Art Editor