The Garden of Hollow Times
The revision of any kind of established model is always a political act.
(Kerry James Marshall)
Neel resisted the label “portrait painter,” primarily due to lingering perceptions of portraiture as a staid, conservative genre that served to flatter those individuals portrayed.
(Kelly Baum and Randall Griffey)
Şahin Demir’s new paintings challenge the traditional genres of portraiture, still life and abstraction. A young Kurdish artist who now lives and works in Besiktas, Istanbul, Demir moved to the city after many years in Ankara. In his work the precision of old master figure painting is juxtaposed with the expressionistic freedom and pathos of abstraction. ‘The Garden of Hollow Times’ at Sevil Dolmaci Art Gallery, illuminates a new direction in his work. With over twenty-five new paintings on view throughout the entirety of the Villa Ipranosyan, Demir reveals a new maturation in his oeuvre, as well as an innovative amalgamation of art historical styles. ‘The Garden of Hollow Times’ also gently confronts serious topics plaguing our world today, from environmental destruction and disaster, to famine, poverty and the collapse of complex societies.
Demir is best known for his skillful figurative work. The human figure, predominantly female, has always been a preoccupation for the artist, from earlier bodies of intricate single or paired figures in fantastical landscapes, to his large-scale “portraiture” of recent years. An early group of works from 2015 saw uniformed workers of various sorts—from forensic to construction—in stark landscapes that left viewers with an uneasy, foreboding feeling. Bright areas of their uniforms contrasted with the gray, overcast scenes which one might best describe as unheimlich.
In a more recent series, Demir painted what might equivocally be called portraits. The ambivalence regarding the genre results from the subjects’ faces, which are often partially or wholly obscured, and veer into total abstraction in some areas of canvases. Like other successful young painters of his generation, from Ella Krugylanskaya, Coady Brown, and Avery Singer, as well as senior figures such as Robert Longo, Marlene Dumas, or Alex Katz, Demir delights in playing with accepted norms of portraiture and expected formal tropes. In one painting Demir can combine the photorealist accuity of Longo with the ethereal, minimal beauty of Katz and the intractable, hermetic lifelessness of a Singer. He does this in his own inimitable style, consisting of a mixture of flat areas of paint with other areas of dynamic and exuberant brushwork.
In this new body of work shown at the gallery, Demir’s scale has expanded alongside his practice. Large works such as “Untitled” recall earlier figurative work that viewers may find familiar. In this instance he uses grisaille—an art historical technique where an artist uses only shades of grey or neutral tones, favored by artists including Giotto and Michelangelo—to render a beautiful woman’s face and hands. The intricate photorealism of a large swathe of the canvas reminds us of Demir’s classical training and his protean artistic powers. The artist then releases the composition from the tyranny of realism, with an area of impasto oil paint that gives the canvas an almost sculptural quality. Rendered larger than life, the female figure cuts a striking presence, occupying an entire wall of the gallery. The artist’s desire to hang the work against a stark black wall results in the impression that the painting lives beyond the canvas, swallowing the architecture of the supporting wall. “Untitled”, also set against a black gallery wall, evokes a similar effect and may be read as a companion piece. Contrasted with the natural tones of Villa Ipranosyan, Demir’s work demands attention and draws viewers closer to reveal the intricacies of his craft.
The largest work in the exhibition, “Untitled” depicts two female figures whose faces disintegrate before our eyes. In this instance a red wall supports the illusion that the painting moves beyond the confines of its stretcher and become larger than life. Between the women, a sunflower floats against the red background, appearing almost to grow from the back of the left figure. A few random yellow brushstrokes are strewn between the women and may be read as falling petals. However, these small strokes also echo abstracted areas in the women’s faces, as if they are literally dripping off the canvas. As the women are seen in close proximity, wearing the same type of garment and hairstyles, they appear as mysterious doppelgangers. Might they represent two aspects of human experience? Demir acknowledges the many faces we all wear as we move through the world: the woman on the right confronts the viewer with a gaze that stares intently forward, while the woman on the left looks to the side, suggesting a more introspective mindset. For me, this painting recalls what the iconic American painter Alice Neel has said of her work, which was that she painted people rather than portraits. This leads me to consider if we can even read Demir’s figures as portraits? Instead they may be read as embodiments of universal emotions: love and desire, fear, and loneliness.
In addition to his figure-based work, Demir’s flower paintings in this exhibition are an outgrowth of work that the artist produced earlier in 2021 on the topic of contemporary still life. “Untitled” and “Untitled” are both arched canvases that work in harmony with the villa’s architecture. In both canvases large sunflowers droop as if they are heavy with seeds at the end of the summer months. Their fecundity is combined with a wild abandon, again rendered with impasto brushstrokes that give an exuberance to the flowers. They suggest both vitality as well as the constant reminder of the fragility of life.
Cut flowers, of course, are already dead. Vincent Van Gogh practically trademarked sunflowers in the late nineteenth century. While his potted flowers are the most iconic, the artist also painted cut sunflowers lying limp, which feel much more melancholic and thus much less popular. Demir’s flowers lie somewhere on the spectrum between erect and deflated and can be considered as stand-ins for the human figures that have preoccupied him for many years. With these flowers the artist reminds us that life in all forms is fleeting, especially in our current global climate crisis, where countless species become extinct daily.
Demir’s most recent paintings blur the distinction between genres even further. “Untitled” represent a new foray into a looser, more experimental style for the artist. While the human figure is still present, in these instances in the form of a kiss, vestiges of still life and abstraction compete for dominance. “Untitled” shows an intricate composition of forms, styles, and palette. A couple in the foreground embrace, while a solitary, ghostlike figure on the left is seen behind a flowerpot. Areas of unpainted canvas are contrasted with solid areas of bright blue paint, ecstatic red and black brushstrokes. These are combined with charcoal drawing, while in other areas the artist has allowed pigment to drip down the canvas. “Untitled” may be considered as a companion work, using a similar theme, with a more pared down palette. These works reveal confidence in their abandonment of the artist’s tighter style and prove that Demir can work magic on any canvas.
There are canvases in this exhibition that hover on the brink between chaos and order. “Untitled”, “Untitled” and “Untitled” combine vestiges of flowers, vases and other legible still life; however, Demir also employs wild brushstrokes that embody equal doses of deep passion and concern. For me these are among the most exciting of the new works. I challenge the viewer to consider these alongside the best works of Baselitz or DeKooning. Demir is a young painter, but his work feels mature in its ability to conjure pleasure in a viewer. It also finds its confidence in resisting any singular style that might become an artistic trademark.
The artist, throughout history, has always lived as an outsider. Demir, who is from a marginalized ethnic group, is not native to Istanbul. Yet he connects with a universal humanity that any viewer can comprehend: he is concerned about our world, yet observes and feeds back the tremendous beauty that exists all around us. Demir’s works embody what Adorno wrote about society in the 20 th century, that “dissonance is the truth about harmony”.
Demir’s process is fascinating to witness. Unlike many artists of his millennial generation, who rely on web or photographic or web-based source material, he works largely from imagination, relegating digital inspiration to a subliminal form. Working straight to the canvas and treating each “subject” with an amazingly instinctual approach. The paintings become worlds in which the artist conjures not only people, flowers and pots; he also invokes emotions and the uneasiness of the world in which we inhabit. This new series of work shown at Sevil Dolmaci Art Gallery represents a progression of the artist’s aesthetic style. The looser and less controlled the paintings become, the more exciting the result. For a man of few words, his paintings say it all.
Dr Kathy Battista
Curator, The Garden of Hollow Times