Devrim Erbil (1937 - )
"From Golden Horn"
Erbil and Abstractions That Make the Invisible Visible: The land masses formed by separation of rhythmic orders create the geographical sections that define Istanbul. Broken lines define districts, streets and architectural structures. Geometric designs determined on the vertical and horizontal planes make the monuments distinctive. The result is unique views of Istanbul depicted with Erbil's abstract understanding. In this context, traditional sources, which have always maintained their existence among the sources he has turned to since his education years, take their place in the designs of the compositions as clear indicators. Erbil is one of the few painters who assimilated Nakkaş Osman's El Fetihname and Nakkaş Velican's manuscript describing the conquest of Istanbul. Maybe it's the only example. He is a painter who wanders around, examines and assimilates manuscripts, old maps, and the books drawn by tax collector Nasuh and written by Evliya Çelebi. Erbil is different as an artist who examines the mosaics of the Kariye Mosque and the works of the Museum of Islamic Arts. He is a unique example, an artist with very rich cultural layers, who creates areas of reading, seeing and examining from Africa to Mesopotamia, from Anatolia to European painting, and places his resources on the heritage of world art. This difference must be what makes Erbil's Istanbul paintings privileged. The abstractions defining Sarayburnu, the Marmara, the Anatolian side and the Bosphorus, the monumental architecture of Sultanahmet surrounded by its minarets reaching to the sky, the Golden Horn floating between the pieces of land like a golden horn, and the Bosphorus connecting the two continents with silver sparkles, are transformed into works of art on Erbil's canvases as symbols that define Istanbul. Istanbul abstractions are paintings of an Erbil interpretation that evokes traditions but rises above all values attached to traditions. They are the most successful and original examples of abstract city views.
Prof. Dr. Kıymet Giray, Erbil and Abstractions That Make the Invisible Visible, Page: 38
Oil on canvas
100 x 100 cm
2017, signed
Estimate: 750.000 TL - 950.000 TL
Starting Bid: 600,000 TL
