Zeki Kocamemi Click for Artist Information

Zeki Kocamemi

Zeki Kocamemi (1902 – 1959)

Zeki Kocamemi enrolled in Sanayi-i Nefise Mektebi in 1916 and received training from the two most important painters of the period, first in the workshops of Hikmet Onat and then in the workshops of İbrahim Çallı. When he entered the school, he was studying at the same school with names such as Dereli, Çelebi, Epikman, Berk, Cüda, Saim Özeren. Şerif Akdik, Refik Epikman, Painter Elif Naci, Mahmut Cûda, Muhittin Sebati, Painter Ali Avni Çelebi, Cevat Dereli, Fahrettin Arkunlar, Hamit Görele, Halil Dikmen, Eşref Üren, Cemal Tollu, Turgut Zaim are among the first and most important painters of the Republic period. entry. While he was a student at the Academy, he participated in the 2nd Galatasaray Exhibition; He had the opportunity to exhibit his works with his teachers. Being among the founders of the New Painting Society together with Saim Özeren; He was among the founders of the Independent Painters and Sculptors Union, laying the first foundations of the Independent Painters and Sculptors Union, which would be established in the future. In addition to the colorist attitude of the Çallı Generation, these sculptors and painters made paintings that prioritized line and structural strength, followed an attitude against impressionism, protecting the interests of artists, bringing freedom to individual art, etc. They had achieved their goal.

However, this initiative was limited to a single exhibition; This attempt ended when he went abroad on a scholarship. While his friends went to Paris with the scholarships they received, Kocamemi went to Munich in December 1922 with the scholarship he received from the Turkish Hearth. He first started taking painting lessons at Heinemann's private workshop, and about a year later, he took the exams of the Munich Academy of Fine Arts but failed. Thereupon, he returned to Hans Hofmann's workshop. Hans Hofmann grew up in Paris, where modern movements diversified and took shape, and was influenced by the arts of Henri Matisse and Robert Delaunay, and produced works in the cubist and expressionist styles. Zeki Kocamemi also received education under these influences and influences. In addition to his works titled Potted Stool, Posing Nude and Otakçılar in Hofmann's workshop, he also made the drawing titled "Nude Reading a Newspaper" dated 1926, which is today in the collections of Mimar Sinan University, Istanbul State Painting and Sculpture Museum.

After returning home, he was appointed as an art teacher at Trabzon High School in 1928 and started teaching. Zeki Kocamemi remained in this position for about a year. Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu was among those who had the chance to be his student when he was a high school teacher.

He formed the Independent Group with Ali Avni Çelebi in 1929. This group of painters and artists held their first exhibition at the Ankara Ethnography Museum under the name of Young Painters I. Later, he entered the Academy of Fine Arts and studied at the Department of Interior Architecture and in 1930 with Prof. He became Gunter's assistant. After completing his assistantship, he was appointed as a lecturer in the Department of Interior Architecture. He went to Rize in 1938 as part of the Homeland Tours organized by the CHP and supported by the People's Houses. His painting, Tea Agriculture, resembled Cezanne's landscapes and made the influence of Cezanne felt in his paintings of those years.

In 1946, he opened his first personal painting exhibition at İsmail Hakkı Oygar Art Gallery. The artist, who participated in many exhibitions with Müstakiller, joined Group D in 1947. He took a break from painting from 1951 to 1959. In 1954, he opened another group painting exhibition consisting of the works of all his students. He started painting again some time before his death, but died due to a sudden illness on May 3, 1959.

Source: Ankara Painting and Sculpture Museum