KOMET- WAKE UP FROM NAPPING

COME

Gürkan Coşkun, known as Komet, studied at the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts in the studios of Halil Dikmen and Zeki Faik İzer between 1960 and 1967. In 1971, he went to Paris with a state scholarship and continued his education at the Department of Plastic Arts at Vincennes University, and from that time on lived between Paris and Istanbul. Komet gained a unique place in the art world as an expressionist painter known for his fantastic and surreal themes.

Komet's works often intertwine fantasy and reality. While he deals with universal themes such as love, death, hope and destruction, his works are often filled with timeless and spaceless scenes. In these scenes, identities are hidden behind masks and fantastical fictions come to the fore. The shocking colors and stains he uses in his paintings strengthen the dramatic narration of figures and events. Although Komet's style bears post-modernist influences, he has developed a unique and independent form of narration.

In 1974, Komet's work was accepted into prestigious exhibitions such as the Salon de Mai, which brought him international recognition. He exhibited his works in cities such as Rouen, Paris and Bobigny in France, and in leading galleries such as the Maçka Art Gallery in Türkiye. In the late 1980s, he participated in the Modern Turkish Painting exhibitions held in Istanbul and in the first two Istanbul Biennials.

Komet was also interested in poetry and video art; he presented 29 video-installations in the “Idi Idim Idik” exhibition held in 2000. In 2009, he opened the video and photography exhibition “None” in Karşı Art Gallery. Komet's art carries the desire to reflect the feeling of freedom and limitlessness to the viewer; he himself defines art as an expression of freedom.

One of the most striking elements in the exhibitions Gürkan Coşkun has held throughout his artistic career has been the blending of Western culture and the influences of early Italian painters with the traditional motifs of Turkish painting. Especially in his works from the 1970s and 1980s, Turkish and Western figures are seen together. The dramatic treatment of figures in Komet's paintings is a reflection of the artist's passion for literature and his search for a deep emotional narrative.