Avni Memedoğlu

Cemal Tollu's constructivist approach and his understanding of painting oriented towards Anatolia influenced the development of his art. However, Memedoğlu moved beyond academic formalism towards a more social and political understanding of art.
In 1944, he became acquainted with the circle of the Turkish Communist Party (TKP). He took part in the Higher Education Youth Association, which carried out legal struggles. He was associated with the Progressive Youth Union and the Peace Association, which were established after the 1944–1945 TKP (Communist Party of Turkey) arrests. He was constantly under surveillance due to his political views. He was among the primary suspects in the 1950 TKP arrests. During this period, he was arrested for his paintings and political views; he was later released. The pressures he experienced further shifted his art towards a more socially oriented direction. In 1958, he changed his surname from "Öztürk" to "Memedoğlu". During the same period, he criticized the existing understanding of art, arguing that the Academy of Fine Arts only provided art education to bourgeois and petty-bourgeois circles. In line with these ideas, he founded the "New Wave Group" in 1959 with Kemal İncesu, İhsan İncesu, Hikmet Aksüt, Marta Tözge, and Vahyi İncesu. Memedoğlu also wrote the group's manifesto. The New Wave Group aimed to create a new artistic language that centered on the social and working people. He settled in İzmir in 1953 and held his first solo exhibition there in 1954. He returned to Istanbul in 1957. To make a living, he worked in advertising, signage, and graphic design. Later, he worked at the Istanbul Municipality's Directorate of Urban Planning and retired from there. In 1961, he was arrested again along with his friends due to the second exhibition of the New Wave Group. This event caused widespread repercussions in art circles. In 1962, he joined the Turkish Workers' Party (TİP). He worked in the party's Eminönü branch. He criticized the purge-oriented tendencies within TİP. He participated in the Proletarian Revolutionary Congress held in 1971. Throughout his life, he lived in unemployment, economic hardship, political oppression, and loneliness. However, he never stopped producing art. He considered social struggle an inseparable part of his art. He passed away in Istanbul on October 9, 1998, and was buried in Kanlıca Cemetery.

Artistic Perspective;
Social Realist Art Approach
Avni Memedoğlu is one of the painters who believed that art has a social responsibility. According to him, art is not only an aesthetic production; it is also a social event.
Therefore, in his paintings:
• working people
• workers
• peasants
• oppressed communities
• war victims
• the poor
• migrants are featured as basic figures. The artist's figures are often in a heavy, thoughtful, and dramatic atmosphere. He treats the human body not only as a formal entity but also as a psychological and social entity.

Figure Approach
The artist's figures:
• surrounded by strong contours
• voluminous
• have dramatic facial expressions
• show a structure that carries psychological intensity. The weariness, resistance, and sadness in the faces are particularly striking.

Color and Composition
Memedoğlu's color approach is based on:
• dark browns
• black
• gray
• red tones
• dirty yellows.
This dramatic color atmosphere becomes an element that supports social tension. In their compositions, the figure is usually at the center. The background is used as a secondary area that supports the psychological atmosphere.

Themes;
The main themes that stand out in Avni Memedoğlu's art are:
• The working class
• Working peoples
• Poverty
• Migration
• Political oppression
• People of Anatolia
• Women and family

• Social inequality

• Anti-war sentiment

• Universal people's struggles

• Loneliness and resistance

Technical characteristics
The artist mainly produces:
• oil painting
• drawing
• mixed media

• figurative compositions. In his technical approach:
• strong drawing
• volumetric structure
• dense layers of paint
• dramatic use of light

• expressive deformations are noteworthy.

Exhibition chronology;
Selections from solo exhibitions
-1954 – First Solo Exhibition – İzmir
-1959 – New Wave Group Exhibition – Istanbul
-1961 – New Wave Group Second Exhibition – Istanbul
-1970s – Social Realist Paintings Exhibitions – Istanbul
-1980s – Retrospective Group Exhibitions – Istanbul
The artist also participated in numerous group exhibitions throughout his life.

Notable works include:
-“Portrait: Melahat from Kumkapı” (1958)
-“Consolation” (1978–1983)
-“Handcuffs” (1960)
-“Harvesting the Barren Land” (1968)
-“Shepherd” (1963)
-“The Fiancés” (1960)
-“Departure – Soldier Going to Korea” (1960)
-“The Dead Man Lying in Beyazıt Square: Turan Emeksiz” (1961)
-“Missuri Arrived – Window” (1962)
-“View from a Brothel” (1988)
-“Morning” (1958)

His Position in Turkish Painting History;

Avni Memedoğlu is considered one of the most important representatives of the social realist figurative approach in Turkish painting of the Republican era. Specifically:
• Combining art with political consciousness

• Centering the working class

• Using figurative painting as a tool for social criticism

• Being one of the founders of the New Wave Group

• Advocating for the social realist art movement

These factors have placed him in a unique and historically significant position in Turkish painting. Close to the style of Neşet Günal, Nuri İyem, Balaban, Turgut Zaim, and İrfan Ertel, he is considered one of the original names in social realist painting.

General assessment:
Avni Memedoğlu's art is based on the harsh realities of life, political struggle, and love for humanity. His life, marked by poverty, oppression, and loneliness, has transformed into a strong social sensitivity in his works. The artist viewed painting not only as an aesthetic field but also as a form of expression that could be the voice of the people. He made visible the working class, oppressed communities, and social suffering through figurative expression.
Today, Avni Memedoğlu is considered one of the most sincere, combative, and humane painters of the social realist tradition in Turkish painting.