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On The Road
An
Art Statement of Kezban Arca BATIBEKI
A combination
open to the to the tools of conceptual art without turning
back to the horizons of the classical canvas painting
on The Road:
Kezban Arca Batıbeki used some special materials
to give a sandy feeling to the canvas in her latest works
under the title “On the Road”. By making the
texture rough, and with the help of the toys, model cars,
tin soldiers she has combined the two dimensional lines
of painting with the three dimensional objects of the
real world in one ground. She has gained a “painted”
feeling touch to the sandy surfaces that give the effect
of a desert, even to the unpainted material.
Some sound and noise effects are broadcasted in front
of specific works to emphasize the story inside them.
She aims to open a metaphorical playground to the possibilities
one may face on the roads or maybe in his life. When we
have a close look at some of the most vivid and lively
works of “On
the Road” which captivates colorful cars, lorries,
palm trees and flowers, the first impression awakening
a childish joy in one’s heart changes dramatically
into a feeling of disaster. The viewer starts to recognize
hopeless people, traffic accidents, ambulances, uprooted
trees, war, dead people on the roads, and the deer which
would be dead soon one by one...
She does not bother to emphasize the dramatical side of
the stories the works are telling us. Instead she uses
the vibrant, happy, pop-art colours as usual. She keeps
the pain and tragedy away from some eyes by this way;
she leaves a space for the ones who want to escape from
the close up stories.
In a way the whole exhibition “On the Road” can be
considered as a work of installation. Kezban Arca Batıbeki
puts small objects together on canvas which defines the
limits of the works instead of spreading them around the
exhibition area. By doing that she reflects the first
signals to where she may sail in teh future.
" K.A.Batibeki has
been expanding the main idea of "On the Road"
which is named after the novel by Jack Kerouac. They all
keep a thin line between the classical canvas painting
and conceptual art and forming a big whole story at the
very end;A Human Story.
As we are all approaching
to awar nowadays,the anti-war philosophy and the belief
in personal freedom defines the main character of K.A.batibeki's
latest works.Beside the quartet named "Stone","Land",Water"
and "Dust",the Turkish Flag" whose shadow
is captured on a bloody red canvas framed by red artificial
roses, a work named "Action Man" where a giant
toy soldier killed on an Action man reproduction undercovered
by blood and sand are all becoming the signature of the
artist's political attitude.And not only the main themes
and concepts of the works gained her such praise ; it
was also the shocking effect of the three dimensional
figures on the canvas painted and installed in areal life
situation and a proposal of different readings for different
art disciplines under a single title.
* * * * *
A
Profile of Kezban Arca Batibeki
"On the Road" happens to include the new road
signs in
Kezban Arca Batibeki's painting career.
She
was born to artist parents on 7th of October
1956, Istanbul. Her mother
Nurhan Nur is an actress and her father is a world
famous film director; Atif Yilmaz Batibeki. She started
reading, writing and painting in her early years. When
she was 5.5 she was already studying with 10 year old
kids in the primary school. She was invited to be educated
in Paris by State of Turkey to be included in the “Gifted
Children” project but she wouldn’t do it because
of the divorce of her parents. She was a lonely child
in school since all classmates are much older. She graduated
from the Fine Arts Academy of Marmara University in 1980.
Her first sketches were published in a popular music magazine
“Hey” in 1970 followed by another popular
magazine “Ses” in 1974. She was discovered
by another publisher in 1974 and started her graphic design
career pre-school. Her first work "Pal Street Kids” was a great hit
became a cult book in years with her cover and inside
design. “That is Life” by Atif Yilmaz
in 1974 was the first step in her film industry career
as an art director, then followed by “Ibo and Gullusah”
and “Dus Gezginleri”.
In the following 10 years her illustrations were on the
cover of every magazine in Turkey; Hürriyet Gösteri,
Sanat Olayi, Milliyet Sanat, Milliyet Yayinlari, Karacan
Yayinlari and Gelisim Yayinlari... She made a children’s
movie for Swedish State TV and designed some sets for
children’s plays for Istanbul Municipality Theatres.
She is married to Koray Arca since 1983. She first started
painting in London in 1984 where she stayed a long time.
From 1984 until today she opened 12 solo exhibits, participated
numerous national and international ones. She was awarded
twice the grand award in one of the biggest national competitions,
and won a 2nd prize in another one.
And there was no time left to have a baby at all...
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E-mail: kezbanarca@superonline.com
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