Created by a unique technique, the newest and previously unseen paintings by Turkish-born painter Eser Afacan await visitors at Gallery Gora in Montreal, which is hosting the first-ever exhibition by the artist in that country Afacan, a student of renowned Norwegian painter Odd Nerdrum, has for years been the second best-selling painter in Norway, where he lived for some 25 years. Since moving to Canada in 2003 he has managed to become one of the most celebrated artists there as well

YASEMİN GÜRKAN

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News

  The figures on the canvas look as if they are real, so strikingly real that they seem like they will reach out and grab your hand if you get closer to them.

  Created by a unique technique, the newest and previously unseen paintings by Turkish-born painter Eser Afacan await visitors at Gallery Gora in Montreal, which is hosting the first-ever exhibition by the artist in that country.

  The exhibition kicks off on Tuesday and will run through July 8, showcasing some 16 unique paintings by Afacan.

  Afacan, a student of the renowned Norwegian painter Odd Nerdrum, has for years been the second best-selling painter in Norway, where he lived for some 25 years. After moving to Canada in 2003, he managed to become one of the most celebrated artists there as well.

  “I came to Canada without knowing anybody, and without being known by anybody. As I always say … an artist must only work; they will find you. If someone works in a room day and night without expectation, working until you're exhausted, they will find you. The light and energy in that room will be stronger than a nuclear bomb,” Afacan told the Turkish Daily News in an online interview.

  Afacan, who went to Norway in the 1970s to study math and science, says he did not realize he wanted to build a career in painting until one day he saw a painting called “Murder of Andréa's Baader” hanging on one of the walls of the University of Bergen, where he was studying.

  “I sat under that work and pondered for what seemed like hours; I felt cheated,” said Afacan as he recalled that day.

  “Until that point, I believed that classic painting was no longer possible for young artists to pursue since it seemed like it was only in art and history books. But this picture was classic and contemporary, telling about today's problems. Also, it did not look photographic.

  “Then I started to think, ‘Why does Rembrandt not look like Rubens or Caravaggio or Rafael or Leonardo?' All of them were different. ... If total precision and accuracy were their aims, these artists' works would be awfully similar. This, however, was not the case. As I thought further on this topic, it seemed eerily clear that photorealism was what the modern art world deemed acceptable. Artists have given us these types of works for the last 100 years. Why was this? These questions, and a deep desire to further explore them, helped me decide to become an artist.”

  That was how he decided to take a path to becoming one of the greatest artists of Norway, and of Europe. But that was also the start of a very tough period in Afacan's life, when he informed the Norwegian foreign police that he would not continue his education in math and science and that he will pursue an art career instead.

  “They did not accept this, and my wife and I lost our residency status. I sent my wife to Turkey, since we were no longer permitted to stay. I was, however, considered an illegal in Norway for seven years. When the police ran after me, I ran faster. These were hungry and trying times; I would paint on found objects, and eat whatever I could get my hands on. Funny enough, I do not regret one moment, and even miss this life sometimes,” Afacan recalls.

  

Art cannot be taught:

  During those years, Afacan, quite by chance, met Nerdrum, who accepted him into his atelier. His three years with Nerdrum were not easy, either, but it was during that period when Afacan discovered that “art cannot be taught.”

  “This is what I learned in the atelier. Classic or modern, both can be a bluff. Art is simply self-development; it is the individual's internal evolution, the difference between yesterday and today. I wonder what they teach in the academy. In any case, I think it is a waste,” he commented.

  Asked about how he creates his magnificently real paintings, Afacan replied: “I use transparent techniques, Alla Prima. As Rembrandt says, glaze until you find the inner life of the human. I have, however, only fully developed this now.

  “Rembrandt was never sure of what he was doing. He had many proportion errors and his glazing techniques were limited. He most likely had eye problems. His developments took place over 500 years ago; it is humiliating not to improve on his developments today,” Afacan commented.

  Afacan, like several other artists, produces the dyes he uses in his paintings himself. This process involves mixing of real root pigments with several other raw materials such as egg yolk, turpentine and waxes. He also mixes black oil (cold pressed linseed oil with lead) into the mixture, making the paint have the consistency of butter. This allows him to continue painting even when the canvas is wet.

  When the gel is dry, he “shaves” the layer with pallet knives and builds the work up using more gel. Each layer is separated from the other by a wax preparation he prepares himself.

  “This is like a negative sculpture technique. The brushstrokes are covered with this transparent gel to ‘level' the canvas, yet still remain meaty and visible beneath it. I believe I am the only artist using this technique today, since there is no such product that is commercially available,” Afacan explained.

  As for the figures in his paintings, Afacan said, “I sometimes think they are more real than many of the people walking in the street; they have more soul than a lot of the so-called ‘living'.”

  But he does not stick to a singular theme in his work. “As I said before, art is a development of the self; it is not a decoration. If art is a decoration, it is a decoration of the human soul,” says Afacan.

  “Feigning understanding, using art lingo and creating a huge, ice-cold division between the artist and audience distances the human from his/her own humanity. It makes the audience feel ordinary; it humiliates you. It tells you the artist is a genius and that you are a fool. You become an offering, and a slave, and art in this case is merely a decoration,” Afacan explains.

  Afacan says his paintings are only what he sees of the human psyche. “One painting may not necessarily tell a story, but every figure represents a stage. It is symbolic of human development. I do not make clouds in the sky if they do not tell or represent something. I do not put eyes if they are not seeing anything. I do not create a hand if it is not holding you there.

  “I see the human being as having three states of being: Negative, positive and neutral. For instance, in ‘Sisters of the Wind,' each girl represents one state: One is afraid (negative), the other is bravely going forward despite the fact she may fall off the edge (positive), the last is romantic, absorbing her surroundings … smelling the air and watching the sky (neutral).”

  Afacan has opened more than 20 exhibitions to date, including three in the United States, and he also took part in the Istanbul Biennale in 1988. As a Turkish artist probably not known by many Turks, he still maintains he is not frustrated that he is not well known in his homeland.

  He also complains about the political instability in Turkey, saying: “Every time I arrange to come to Turkey or am invited by a culture minister, the government changes. I have six different letters from six different ministers.”

  Asked if he has any plans to open an exhibition in Turkey, Afacan said, “In my way of doing things, I must be invited.”

  “I do, however, miss Turkey and really want to come. … But in any case I have no such plans. If Turkey invites me, however, my answer will always be ‘yes'.”