Exhibition shines a light on women’s artistry

ISTANBUL

The exhibition "Behind the Shadow," by painter and academic Professor Hüsamettin Koçan, opened on April 8 at Istanbul's Merkür Gallery in Piyalepaşa, celebrating women's labor and creativity while showcasing traditional art elements that highlight the contributions of women from Bayburt to the artistic landscape.

Speaking about the exhibition, Koçan said they present the fusion of traditional crochet work with brushstrokes, reinterpreting the beaded crochet technique used by women from Bayburt through a contemporary lens.

Koçan noted that the metal plates on which the crochet pieces are mounted hold symbolic value in the exhibition. “These metal plates are tools traditionally used in Anatolia for baking bread and cooking food. By using crochet, we reimagined a form through which women earn their livelihood. For this reason, we used the materials exactly as they are, without any intervention. The artists wanted to create sun motifs out of the beaded crochet work, resulting in a colorful and radiant symphony of suns. These pieces by the women of Bayburt represent a form through which they indirectly express themselves.”

Highlighting the blending of the traditional and the contemporary in the exhibition, Koçan said: “The concept of ‘shadow’ in the exhibition symbolizes the privacy of women, while ‘behind’ refers to the reflections of this privacy onto their inner worlds. At Baksı Museum, which we established in Bayburt, we’ve always believed in and made space for the power of local women. Beadwork is a journey of patience. We aimed to contribute to the world of women through this exhibition, an effort made with the hand of a man.”

Stating that one of his main goals was to bring together the artists involved in the exhibition, Koçan said, “Together with all the artists here, we’ve embarked on a journey in pursuit of beauty. Unfortunately, by setting original works aside, we have fallen into repetition. Tradition and culture carry profound meaning. By abandoning that depth, we began to judge one another. The only thing that should be judged is the belief that people can have a fulfilling future without creating anything.”

The exhibition features works by Mintaha Kardeş, Şeyma Özbek, Ayşenur Karadeniz, Serpil Yanık, Elif Gül Öztürk, Gönül Ayengin, Leyla Yanık and Mine Yanık. Oya Koçan, president of the Baksı Foundation for Culture and the Arts, presented plaques to the women artists from Bayburt who contributed to the exhibition and traveled to Istanbul for the opening.

About Hüsamettin Koçan

Born in Bayburt in 1946, Koçan graduated from the Department of Painting at the State Academy of Applied Fine Arts in 1970.

In 1978, he studied at the International Summer Academy of Fine Arts in Salzburg on an Austrian government scholarship and received the Salzburg City Honor Award.

He became an associate professor in 1986 and a full professor in 1993. Between 1997 and 2000, he served as the dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Marmara University.

Koçan is the founder of both Baksı Museum and the Istanbul Art Fair. In 2014, he was awarded the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye Honor Award.