Rhythm, lines and Turkish tradition are among the words used to describe the art of Devrim Erbil, a key figure in the development of modern Turkish painting whose artistic career has spanned more than half a century. The National Museum of History (國立歷史博物館) is currently holding an exhibition, Poetical Abstraction From Istanbul (詩意的抽象—來自伊斯坦堡), of work by the internationally-renowned artist, including recent abstract paintings and textile-art, that eloquently illustrate his preoccupations with motifs such as birds, trees, rhythmic composition and the cityscapes of Istanbul.
Born in 1937 in the carpet-weaving province of Usak, Central Anatolia, Erbil studied painting at the respected State Academy of Fine Arts in Istanbul during the 1950s, and soon garnered recognition as an abstract painter at home and abroad. A prolific artist who, at the age of 76, still reportedly works seven to 12 hours a day, Erbil has also served as an academic at several art institutions in Turkey and helped to influence a younger generation of Turkish artists.
Although trained in the abstract tradition of European masters such as Paul Klee and Piet Mondrian, Erbil nevertheless seeks inspiration in the culture, tradition and landscapes of Turkey, particularly Anatolia, the Asian part of the nation. He renders Istanbul in intricate lines and shapes and always from an aerial perspective. From a distance, the city’s maze of streets, mosques and the Bosphorus, a strait that is part of the border separating Europe and Asia, appear sketched or engraved on the canvas and often painted in vibrant colors of red, green and Turkish blue. A closer look, however, reveals an immense complexity composed of straight and broken lines, curves and their variations in various hues.
Photo courtesy of the Turkish Trade Office in Taipei
Erbil’s abstract paintings are also suffused with images of nature. Subjects like the flapping of a bird’s wings or the branches and leaves of a tree, which seem to expand and grow to infinity, are often unrecognizable, while a sense of rhythmic motion and dynamism is deeply felt in the artist’s intricately detailed rendering.
Believing that art is made for sharing, Erbil has worked with a variety of media that ranges from mosaics, ceramics and stained glass to tapestry. Among them, Anatolian carpet occupies a special position in the creative world of Erbil, who once said that carpets are the Turks gift to humanity. Several of Erbil’s textile-art works that adopt ancient weaving techniques are on display at the museum, aiming to change the viewer’s ideas of carpets not only as a piece of decoration on the floor but as an artwork that can be hung on the wall.
■ National Museum of History (國立歷史博物館), 49 Nanhai Rd, Taipei City (台北市南海路49號), tel: (02) 2361-0270. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 6pm. General admission: NT$30. On the Net: www.nmh.gov.tw
Photo courtesy of the Turkish Trade Office in Taipei
■ Until Oct. 2
Photo courtesy of the Turkish Trade Office in Taipei
Photo courtesy of the Turkish Trade Office in Taipei
That US assistance was a model for Taiwan’s spectacular development success was early recognized by policymakers and analysts. In a report to the US Congress for the fiscal year 1962, former President John F. Kennedy noted Taiwan’s “rapid economic growth,” was “producing a substantial net gain in living.” Kennedy had a stake in Taiwan’s achievements and the US’ official development assistance (ODA) in general: In September 1961, his entreaty to make the 1960s a “decade of development,” and an accompanying proposal for dedicated legislation to this end, had been formalized by congressional passage of the Foreign Assistance Act. Two
March 31 to April 6 On May 13, 1950, National Taiwan University Hospital otolaryngologist Su You-peng (蘇友鵬) was summoned to the director’s office. He thought someone had complained about him practicing the violin at night, but when he entered the room, he knew something was terribly wrong. He saw several burly men who appeared to be government secret agents, and three other resident doctors: internist Hsu Chiang (許強), dermatologist Hu Pao-chen (胡寶珍) and ophthalmologist Hu Hsin-lin (胡鑫麟). They were handcuffed, herded onto two jeeps and taken to the Secrecy Bureau (保密局) for questioning. Su was still in his doctor’s robes at
Last week the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said that the budget cuts voted for by the China-aligned parties in the legislature, are intended to force the DPP to hike electricity rates. The public would then blame it for the rate hike. It’s fairly clear that the first part of that is correct. Slashing the budget of state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) is a move intended to cause discontent with the DPP when electricity rates go up. Taipower’s debt, NT$422.9 billion (US$12.78 billion), is one of the numerous permanent crises created by the nation’s construction-industrial state and the developmentalist mentality it
Experts say that the devastating earthquake in Myanmar on Friday was likely the strongest to hit the country in decades, with disaster modeling suggesting thousands could be dead. Automatic assessments from the US Geological Survey (USGS) said the shallow 7.7-magnitude quake northwest of the central Myanmar city of Sagaing triggered a red alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses. “High casualties and extensive damage are probable and the disaster is likely widespread,” it said, locating the epicentre near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay, home to more than a million people. Myanmar’s ruling junta said on Saturday morning that the number killed had
RSS