Ahmet Civelek "Number 1"
Galerie Mourlot
This event has ended.
Galerie Mourlot presents Number 1, the first solo show of paintings and drawings by Ahmet Civelek. Using the medium of colored pencil on paper, these drawings, comprised of linear shapes against bold backgrounds, are as simplistic as they are vivid. The relationship between juxtapositions is the basis of Civelek’s work: black against white, straight versus curved, organic and geometric. This methodology of stark contrasts is most evident in the paintings on show.
Favoring the use of rollers over brushes, Civelek applies several layers of acrylic paint for a bold opaque background, and then creates geometric shapes within the parameters of tape applied to the canvas. The final stage of the process consists of laying the large scale canvases flat and pouring urethane over them, before turning the works at various different angles, allowing gravity to determine the outcome. The geometric forms broken by the organic nature of pouring paint stands as a metaphor for instantaneous destruction of labour intensive manmade creation. Rigid control of paint combined with spontaneous chance formulates a dichotomy, thus creating a specific visual vocabulary. The final effect is arresting, giving rise to a mesmerising three-‐dimensional illusion.
As a child, Civelek experimented with the marbling technique, which introduced him to the method of dripping and pouring paint. “Precision, control, as well as gravity and chance, play equal parts in the process of creating my paintings,” he says. The style of Civelek’s earliest works was compared to Jackson Pollock, an artist whom he was not even familiar with at the time. Today he cites Pollock, Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman as major influences.
Ahmet Civelek was born in 1988 and raised in Istanbul. From a young age, he gave a vast amount of importance to his art while at school. Such was his dedication that during his free time, he would visit an art studio outside of school to build his portfolio. He received an award upon graduating and the high calibre of his portfolio gave him an admission to the prestigious Pratt Institute in New York. It was during his four years at Pratt that he was able to refine his skill as a serious artist and learn how to relate his work to something specific, a primary reason he has chosen to make this his profession. He was given another award at Pratt for his outstanding achievement in painting.
After graduating from Pratt, Civelek moved to London and studied at Central St. Martin’s for a year, which gave him more freedom to experiment. As well as being a serious artist, Civelek has a strong hand at business, a formidable combination for someone so young. At the age of 14, he sold thirty of his paintings to friends and family in Istanbul. Upon his return to New York in 2010, he founded and set up The Destruction Company, a business that involved art making through the act of destroying everyday objects.
“Process is what intrigues me the most. I am interested in the amount of time that goes into creating something, and how little time it takes to destroy it. To explore answers to questions such as how much can we control and how much is accident? is the driving force behind my work as a painter and performance artist.”
Media
Schedule
from September 13, 2012 to October 24, 2012
Opening Reception on 2012-09-13 from 18:00 to 21:00