top of page
_DSC6950.jpg

Eylül 2020 | Art | Turkey

Miniatures with Matisse and Warhol through them

Words | Onur Baştürk

He brought his miniature art to Starbucks coffee cups in his "Mythology" series, which was exhibited first at the Mamut Art Project and then at the Saatchi Gallery in London in 2017. In the "Olympos / Portraits-1" exhibition curated by Taner Ceylan, he drew attention with his work titled "Self-Portrait", all made with 24 K. real gold on transparent paper. I can briefly describe him as "the artist who made miniature up-to-date". I am talking about Onur Hastürk. Currently, Anna Laudel is on the agenda with her "Assimilation" exhibition in Dusseldorf, which will last until the end of October. The main vein of the exhibition is Matisse and Warhol. What brings them together is miniature. Here is Onur Hastürk's unique world ..

 

How did you think of intersecting the world of miniature with the world of Henri Matisse and Andy Warhol in the exhibition "Assimilation"? Is it the pleasure of bringing different worlds together or is it a move abroad?

 

For a long time, I have been trying to establish a link between East-West, traditional-current, past and present. I do intensive reading and research before the production processes. In such a moment, in the proceedings book of the symposium titled "Islamic Aesthetics in Modern Art" held at the Goethe Institute, published in December 2005, Henri Matisse's words following his visit to the "Masterpieces of Islamic Art" exhibition organized by Ernst Kühnel in Munich in 1910 are the starting point of the exhibition created: 

 

“Eastern miniatures made me aware of all forms of sensory perceptions possible for me. With the type of painting used in these miniatures, this art expresses a large and truly unique field. This helped me get rid of the copycat painting ”.

 

I didnt know that….

 

On the other hand, Matisse was one of the artists that attracted me with his oil painting works, which he named "Odalisque" (Turkish origin "Odalık"), especially between 1910-1929.

 

What about Warhol? 

 

Warhol's different patterns (women's shoes, feminine boys, inviting figures, etc.) in the drawings he made as gold-plated on paper in his book "A Gold Book" and his series impressed me incredibly. The use of "gold" as an art material over the centuries and its multi-layered relationship in art has always been of interest to me. The first reflection of Andy Warhol in my works started with the "One More Coffee" series, where I interpret classic miniature works on Starbucks paper cups at the 2016 Mamut Art Project, which I am a participant of and which enables me to be visible in contemporary art.

 

So I realized that even though we were at different times, there is an invisible bond that connects us with the shining stars of western art, Matisse and Warhol. In fact, everything was there, waiting for me in front of me. It was only to show how this was seen through the eyes of a miniature artist in the present. Therefore, after 110 years (with a spatial reference), the idea of bringing this exhibition, in which Matisse's works are reinterpreted in the classical miniature style, with the audience at the Germany / Anna Laudel Düsseldorf Gallery, emerged.

ART | Kategorinin diğer yazıları

yuzulogoweb2.png
bottom of page