A Wizard Of Colors In The Istanbul Metro
March 29th, 2008 - Chicago, IL
The newly opened Taksim-Kabataş funicular line, also leaves its mark in the area of Turkish contemporary art. Turkish-American painter Yücel Dönmez’ 12 meter square transportable painting entitled, Millennium Tugra [the name given to the Sultan’s personalized signature], and 7 meter square painting under a sheet of glass are on display at the station.
Transportable contemporary art work has been displayed in a public space for the first time in Turkey. Alongside painter Yücel Dönmez’ 12 square meter-large acrylic painting on metal, are a 7 square meter contemporary painting under glass, and a 6 square meter digital image, all shown in the Taksim-Kabataş funicular station in Taksim. The artist has also transformed a winch measuring 4.5 meters in diameter and forming the pulley system for the funicular wagon, into a brightly colored kinetic work of art. Encased in a special glass box, this giant cog is the first time a functioning motor has been turned into a working piece of art.
Taking traditional Turkish art and the different aspects of Anatolian culture as a starting point to create his own contemporary style and technique, Yücel Dönmez has been working on his art in the city of Chicago in the United States for the last twenty five years.
Described as unique and uninfluenced by the West or by another master painter by well-known American art critic Alan Artner, Yücel Dönmez has, as a result of his self-developed technique and interesting style, had mention in many encyclopedias in the U.S.
Discovered on the Internet…
Finding Yücel Dönmez’ paintings on the Internet, Control Engineer for the construction of the Underground, Feriha Mert, states how lucky they were to have found Dönmez.
Yücel Dönmez developed his ‘under glass’ technique from traditional Turkish arts, just as he did his painting technique, carrying them into a contemporary style. The 7 square meters under glass painting carries notes of Ottoman calligraphy (Hat), ornamentation (Süsleme) and Ottoman Sultans’ personalized signatures (Tuğra), which Dönmez mentions is an original and novel style in Turkish art. He adds that he has not yet heard of an under glass painting of such a large dimension anywhere in the world. The giant under glass transportable picture, painted into a special type of shatter-proof glass, weighs a phenomenal 200 kilograms.
In encyclopedias in the U.S.
Yücel Dönmez has been undergoing art work in the city of Chicago in the United States since 1980. Having held many exhibitions both in his homeland of Turkey and in the States, Dönmez was entered such encyclopedias as, ‘Who is Who in American Art’ in 2000, ‘The Biographical Encyclopedia of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers of the U.S.’ in 2002, and ‘Devonport’s Art Reference’. In doing so, he has earned a permanent place in American art history. He has also appeared alongside 62 other Chicago artists, in the art reference book, ‘Art Diary International’, published in Italy every year by well-known Flash Art magazine.