
Who is Halil Coşkun?
Painting is a passion for Halil Joshun, who preferred to paint while his friends were playing football outside of school during his middle school and high school years.
Halil Coşkun, who wanted to pursue an academic career in painting after his high school years; He was born in Divriği in 1963. He graduated from Gazi University, Gazi Faculty of Education, Department of Painting in 1985. Between 1987 and 1990, he completed the Master’s Program in Painting Department of Hacettepe University Faculty of Fine Arts. He has opened twenty personal exhibitions to date. He is the winner of the 8th and 12th Şefik Bursalı Painting Competition awards. The artist, whose works are in official and private collections, still continues his work in Ankara.
To better understand Halil Coşkun’s life story and his passion for painting, it is useful to take a look at the interview with him:
“Drawing was a great passion for me during middle school and high school. While my friends were playing football outside school, I was painting. I used to copy reproductions in life magazines when I was still in middle school. My family watched my work with interest. My father used to buy all the life magazines because he knew this passion of mine. When I reached my senior year of high school, I decided to receive academic education in painting. At that time, there were no preparatory courses to enter the painting department, and I prepared myself at home for a year by copying my favorite paintings by my favorite painters. My only choice in Gazi was painting. When we reached third grade, we had to choose a teacher's workshop. I chose Turan Erol's workshop. Afterwards, painting became an indispensable passion for me. Even when school was not in session, we would open the workshop with a group of friends and work until late hours. After my graduation, I was appointed to Rize and started teaching. But my desire to be in the art environment became more important and I resigned and came to Ankara. I completed my master's degree at Hacettepe. I started teaching again. But on the condition of not leaving Ankara. I established my workshop here and I still continue my work.
THEMES OF ASSURANCE
In 1986-87, I was fascinated by the abundant pigeons on Sakarya Street in Ankara. I started to see their stance in front of the windows in the winter cold as a stain. I compared their movements to people's postures. This tainted effect of pigeons is something that affects me plastically. Comparing them to human postures seems like a message from my subconscious to me. I think the main reason why artists choose certain objects and figures as themes is their preferences as a result of their inner knowledge that they are not even aware of.
Some unknowns can appear intertwined or side by side on my canvas. I also saw the lonely resistance of thistles against nature on Ottoman tombstones and pigeons. I felt the need to combine these three. Maybe another theme may be added.
CALIGRAPHIC FEATURES
This situation is in the 12th century named Al-Jazeera. It started when I came across a book printed verbatim by an engineer who lived in 1960 and is considered the pioneer of cybernetics in the world today and who made water-powered automatons in his time. The yellowed pages of the book and the machine drawings in it led me to a new quest in my paintings. I can say that the idea of bringing together pigeons, Ottoman tombstones, machine drawings and text was effective in taking my paintings in a calligraphic direction.
PHILOSOPHICAL CONTENT OF THE PICTURE
First of all, the painting you paint must have a solid philosophical content. This; It requires a state of anxiety created by politics, your perspective on the society you live in, and your attitude towards the world. Filling the picture with these concerns cannot be done with overt, sloganized, popular or even cheap elements. It should be the aesthetic reflection of a distilled and synthesized accumulation. It shouldn't be about what you do, but how you do it. Artist; The more he learns, the more he turns to himself and becomes lonely. To be yourself without trying to imitate or emulate. If you paint with love and sincerity, painting matures and transforms you. Unfortunately, although there are many talented people in the painting market, they cannot carry the mission of being an artist. I think collectors and gallerists should closely follow the artist's personal formation process as well as his painting. The plastic language in the picture should match the sincerity you should have. The two nourish each other, mature each other and become your self-reference. This reference is now your clear image ID. Anyone who understands painting can read this identity. There is no escape, no lie, no twisting!”