Page 243 - ArtUnlimited

gültekin Bilge is a Turkish Cypriot
artist, living and working in the
Uk. He received his MA in 1972,
graduating from the Istanbul Academy
of Fine Arts. Bilge’s abstract artworks
have a haunting emotional quality.
He paints in terms of expressive
energy, combining strong colour,
light and shade in fluid forms to
produce a multiplicity of abstract
portraits, many hidden deep within
the composition. The portraits range
from large to small creating a rich
dense texture and expressing a range
of emotions that reveal a dark and
troubled internal landscape. Bilge
describes himself “digging deep”
into his intuition, emotions and
personal experience to express his
thoughts and feelings about personal
relationships, culture, society, politics
and the impact of world events and
different ideologies on people’s
lives. Oil is the primary medium.
Bilge developed the Turkish weave,
whirling and Dissolve techniques
by mixing oil paint with alkyds and
resins to create his own language of
expression. The works illustrated are
on canvas although he also paints
on carved wood to break free from
the convention of working within a
rectangular frame. Early influences
were Bosch, Rembrandt, Picasso,
klee, kandinsky, and Chagall, but
mostly he works from nature.

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