Chianciano Art Museum
Critical Analysis Artist: G端ltekin Bilge Art Critic: Christopher Rosewood
ICAC
International Confederation of Art Critics
Critical Analysis Artist: G端ltekin Bilge Art Critic: Christopher Rosewood
The Museum The Museum of Art of Chianciano hosts a series of collections ranging from Neolithic and Asiatic to Contemporary art. There are approximately a thousand works on display. Visitors are able to view paintings and sculptures by artists such as Tom Nash, Salvador Dali, Sir Henry Moore, Frances Turner, Mario Schifano, Damien Hirst, Brian Willsher and Albert Louden, drawings by the likes of Magritte, Guttuso and Munch; historical works from Royal Collections and original etchings by masters such as Dürer and Rembrandt. The museum is known for organising annual international events, including the Chianciano International Art Award and the Biennale of Chianciano.
Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) “Joachim and the Angel” Original woodcut, circa 1504
Sir Henry Moore (1898-1986) “Head” Bronze Sculpture
ICAC
International Confederation of Art Critics
The Critic
Christopher Rosewood was born in Hastings in 1952 and is a critical writer and curator based in London. Rosewood is the creator of the book “Figures; from Realism to Abstraction” that elegantly describes the interiors of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the permanent collections and the artworks of great contemporary artists such as Tom Nash and Jin Cheng Liu. The exhibition was presented at the Victoria and Albert Museum and was well received by the public and the critics. This important publication is a testament to the difficult task of selecting the artists and hosting the exhibition. Christopher also selected important works by Frances Turner presented at Museo del Chopo in Mexico. These works were published by the Museum in an important publication during this solo show. A noteworthy quote by Rosewood is “Always with the artist.” He has a huge admiration for artists who he believes are people that often work in solitude, who create and who send their message to the world, a message that is often related to their feelings -. whether in a still life or a artwork depicting social issues or an abstract that allows the viewer to have a totally personal interpretation of the artwork. Christopher is not only an art critic of contemporary art but is also well known his research on Renaissance artists. Christopher contributed to important writings on Palma the Younger, the artist that finished Tiziano’s “Pietà” after his death, as well as his studies on Durer, Rembrandt and Rubens. Rosewood was a great friend of Bill Hopkins of the International Association of Art critics with which he participated in research on the various aesthetic expressions linked to art and the philosophy of form.
Wrongs and Rights in Our Life by G端ltekin Bilge
The Artist Gültekin Bilge (pronounced Beelgay) is a Turkish Cypriot Artist, born in Cyprus, 1945. He received his M.A. from the Istanbul Academy of Fine Arts where he studied under Devrim Erbil and Ali Çelebi before graduating from the atelier of Dinçer Erimez. Since moving to the UK in 2011 his work has been exhibited internationally throughout Europe and in the USA, Canada, Australia, Japan. During this period he has also received many awards. His works are held in private collections in Turkey, Europe and Japan. Bilge’s journey through life has not been easy. He was unable to paint for many years after losing the use of his right hand when he was shot in the 1974 Cyprus War. The injury led to a dark period in his life, full of anger, pain, frustration, powerlessness, isolation and loss of identity. These emotions find full expression in his abstract artworks, which have a haunting emotional quality. During the long period of recovery to his hand Bilge worked as an art teacher whilst continuing to follow developments in contemporary art. He was searching to develop a modern style of painting which had international reach but could also be recognised as influenced by his Turkish roots. Gradually he recovered sufficient use of his right hand to enable him to develop the Turkish Weave, Turkish Whirling and Dissolve techniques that have become his own language of expression. Oil is the primary medium. Bilge also makes his own paints with alkyds and resin. In recent years he has painted on wood as a means of breaking free from the convention of working within a rectangular frame. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus has been under embargos for almost 40 years. The political situation limited Bilge’s opportunities to exhibit, although he participated in various group exhibitions and sold works in Cyprus and Turkey. From 2004 – 2011 Bilge had a permanent display of works at his own atelier in the Büyük Han, Lefkoşa (Nicosia). Whilst he was living in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus he did not exhibit internationally because of embargoes on trade and cultural exchange. Since moving to the UK in 2011 his work has been exhibited internationally in the USA, Canada, Australia, Japan and throughout Europe. During this period he has also received many awards. His works are held in private collections in Turkey, Europe and Japan.
War is Hell by G端ltekin Bilge
The Critique We could describe Gültekin Bilge as a universal artist. His works radiate contrasting sentiments: joy, fright, anguish, happiness. A complete artist that gives us a vision of the world by transferring his feelings and his emotions on his canvases, sometimes with great force and other times with extreme delicacy. His complexity is evident in the expression of his figures, in their look, sometimes sad, or frightened, or pensive. It is evident that nothing is improvised, nor easily created in his oeuvre. One can see all his intellectual and artistic background. His studies at the Istanbul Academy of Fine Arts have only contributed to “discovering the statue in the marble and setting it free” to quote Michelangelo. In fact, Bilge’s great talent is an innate gift. It is something genetic, personal, with which he was born, and the Academy only refined it. Figures that look upon us, call us. Figures that look at each other with love, faces that express strong feelings, fantastic creations that stare at us with stupor, irony, anguish. Gültekin’s works represent the whole variety of human existence, in the different aspects of its being and dictated by its subconscious, by its emotions, by its most intimate sensations. Everything originates from his thoughts, from what he feels inside, and that he manages to reproduce on canvas with incredible artistry and talent. Works worthy of a museum, in which we can see ourselves in various moments of our daily lives; moments of peace and war within ourselves; moments of anguish and joy. His works follow us even when we are not watching them. They remain impressed in our subconscious; they remain attached to us as if not wanting to leave us. This is Bilge’s incredible ability. Creations that are part of us; creations that give us their hand, talk to us and help us understand ourselves better, our past and our future. Bilge is an artist that is difficult to find and that no sooner one sees his works, one falls in love. He manages to use expressions, colours, contrasts to tell us not only about himself, but also to read inside ourselves. An artist that does not go unnoticed and makes us understand the essence of life. Bilge is not just a great artist but he is also a great writer, who writes on the walls of our souls.
Christopher Rosewood International Confederation of Art Critics
Surprise by G端ltekin Bilge
Three Graces by G端ltekin Bilge
Broken Hope by G端ltekin Bilge
Fragile Heart by G端ltekin Bilge
International Confederation of Art Critics www.international-confederation-art-critics.org