Işık Güner says, "Nature is our home and it is our responsibility to protect this home. The exhibition aims to convey this responsibility to the audience with a visual feast."
This photograph shows three people in an art gallery. They stand with their backs to the camera, looking at flower-themed artworks hanging on the wall. The artworks are framed botanical illustrations depicting different plants and flowers. The ambient lighting is focused on the paintings and placed in a way that highlights each painting. The people in the photograph are wearing headscarves and winter clothes. One person is wearing a darker coat and the other two are wearing lighter-toned clothes. The wall with the artworks is white and plain, with no other distracting elements in the background.

Işık Güner’s exhibition of the project titled “habitat”, which consists of a trilogy of books, short films and exhibitions on the rich flora of the world, opened in Rize-Çamlıhemşin on Saturday, October 19.

Işık Güner is holding his personal exhibition focusing on the richness, importance and extinction of biodiversity in the Çinçiva School building, which was founded in 1910 as a Rüştiye School and is now abandoned in Çamlıhemşin, Rize.

The opening of the exhibition was accompanied by talks by Edinburgh Botanical Garden Artist Jacqui Pestell and Işık Güner on botanical painting, and by Flora Research Association President Tuğrul Körüklü on the flora of Turkey. The opening continued with a concert by the Fındıklı Women’s Choir with the participation of local people.

The “habitat” exhibition is a collection of Işık Güner’s works depicting wild plants that he pursues in various geographies of the world. In his exhibition, the artist aims to draw attention to the danger of extinction of natural habitats and convey the necessity of their protection to the audience through a visual and sensory experience.

Plant paintings, which are considered an elegant combination of nature and science in the art world, reveal nature in its purest form with Işık Güner's watercolor paintings.

The exhibition draws attention with meticulously detailed scientific representations of rare plants growing as natural vegetation in various regions of Turkey, while taking the audience on a journey through many habitats, from the rainforests of Peru to arid deserts, from the high peaks of the Himalayas to the forest plants of Japan. Moreover, it does this right in the heart of Fırtına Valley with its wild nature...

Each of Işık Güner's works offers a feast of scientific plant painting by reflecting the exact dimensions and real colors of the plants.

This selection, consisting of species such as Turkish navruzu (Iris caucasica M.Bieb. subsp. turcica), Van wolf's ear (Iris polakii f. barnumiae), Ayıgülü (Paeonia mascula (L.) Mill. subsp. mascula) that appear before us with their meticulously detailed scientific representations, offers viewers the opportunity to discover the aesthetic and scientific values ​​of Turkey's rich flora.

The performance film, directed by Recep Akar and part of the "habitat" project, meets the audience for the first time in the exhibition with a costume consisting of patterns of plants painted by artists from different countries, and a solo dance choreography specially designed by choreographer Ebru Cansız.

Güner emphasizes the beauty and danger of natural life at the same time in the performance film, reminding viewers how quickly the moment can change.

Işık Güner says, "Nature is our home and it is our responsibility to protect this home. The exhibition aims to convey this responsibility to the audience with a visual feast."

The exhibition also gives the good news of Işık Güner's book with the same title as his "habitat" project. The book has a content enriched by Güner's travel stories to the unique geographies where these plants live and contributions from writers and painters from different countries.

Işık Güner includes many plant species that he has illustrated as a result of his field studies in the East and Southeast of Turkey since 2016, and he also includes the 'iris' species that he has been pursuing for many years.

The "habitat" Project book offers an in-depth look at the diversity and protection of natural life, while opening a new perspective at the intersection between art and science with the contributions of multiple authors.

The "habitat" exhibition; presents the scientific importance of wildlife and the aesthetic values ​​of nature together, and promises an unforgettable experience until November 1, 2024 for art lovers and nature enthusiasts who love rare examples of plant paintings.

About Işık Güner

After completing his undergraduate education in the Environmental Engineering Department of Marmara University in 2006, he started working full-time as a Plant Painter. He prepared 40 illustrations for the book project titled 'Plants from the Woods and Forests of Chile'. The book, which was completed in seven years, was published by the Royal Botanical Garden of Edinburgh in 2015. Many of the illustrations he prepared for the book received the Gold Medal and the Best Picture Award at the International Plant Illustration Exhibitions in London, RHS and Edinburgh, Biscot. In addition, the book received the “Excellence in Botanical Art and Illustration 2017” award.

In the following years, he took part in the book project titled “Transylvania Florilegium” prepared for the British Prince, Prince Charles (King Charles III). He prepared studies on endangered and medicinal plants for the plant protection projects titled “Beauty of Orchids, China” and “Plants of Nepal”. Some of these studies are in the collections of “Shirley Sherwood, London” and “Hunt Institute, USA”. He currently works as an Art Editor at the “Illustrated Flora of Turkey Project” and is an instructor at the Plant Illustration Diploma Course at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. This course is one of the leading courses in the world.

His educational book titled “Botanical Illustration from Life” was recently published in six different languages: Turkish, English, Spanish, French, Korean and Chinese. He currently lives in Fırtına Valley and travels to many countries to organize plant painting courses and to paint plants.

About Çinçiva School

With the initiative of the association called Hemşin Terakki ve Teavün Cemiyeti, a Junior High School building was built in Çinçiva village in 1910 for children to study.

This school, which continued its education life for many years, graduated from important figures of the country. This school building, which remained idle after moving to the central system, was revived under the name Fırtına Pension with the initiative of Rukiye and Selçuk Güney from Çinçiva. During this period, the building continued as the center of cultural and artistic activities and of course became the meeting point of the ecological struggle of the valley.

Now, this historical school building is wanted to be redesigned as a ‘Honey Museum’ by the people living in the region because the valley needs a cultural and artistic center.

Source: https://bianet.org/haber/isik-guner-in-habitat-sergisi-acildi-301004