Who is Remzi Rasha? (1928-2015 Paris)
He is one of the Paris Turkish School painting artists along with Fikret Mualla, Hakkı Anlı, Abidin Dino, Selim Turan, Avni Arbaş, Nejat Devrim, Mübin Orhon and Albert Bitran.
He was born in 1928 in the Kırıkhan district of Antakya, as the son of a land-rich Kurdish family. His father is Hüseyin Avni Bey from the Şeyhanlı tribe of Urfa, and his mother is Feride Hanım from the Syrian Kurds. His father, the tribal leader, left his mother shortly before Remzi’s birth.
He was first cared for by his relatives, and when his mother remarried in 1937, he moved in with her. However, due to his mother’s lack of interest, he moved in with his father and stepmother in 1940. He attended a Syrian school for a year. He started secondary school in Antakya in 1941.
He began making his own paints from soil, linseed oil and gasoline. In 1944 he painted his first oil painting, a portrait. In 1946, he went to Istanbul and passed the exam for the Academy of Fine Arts, where Leopold Levy was the director, and entered Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu’s workshop. He came to Kırıkhan in the summers and worked during the harvest and continued his education in Istanbul with the pocket money he received from his brother.
He opened his first exhibitions in Kırıkhan, Antakya and İskenderun in 1947. In 1948, he opened an exhibition with a friend at Şişli Community Center. He joined the Group of Ten, founded by Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu‘s students, between 1950 and 1952. He graduated in 1953 and went to Paris.
He visited museums in Paris and worked as a painter in construction sites. In 1960, he traveled with Leoplod Levi to Ceyreste in the south of France and painted people. He went to visit Fikret Mualla in 1965 and used his workshop in Rouet Dead End, Alesia District, until the end of his life. He was stripped of Turkish citizenship in 1966 because he did not do military service.
For half a century, he opened various solo exhibitions and participated in group exhibitions in France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Turkey. In 2012, he participated in retrospective exhibitions titled “Choosing Loneliness, A Retrospective 1946-2006” in Santral Istanbul and Diyarbakır. She died in Paris on July 25, 2015. He was buried in Montmartre Cemetery.
A comprehensive study on the painter's life was made by Şehmus Güzel and published as an interview-narrative book with the title "Remzi: Hayat Renk Işık" in 2006.
Artistic perspective
Remzi's world is dark. His first works made in Paris are always shadowy inside coffee houses and train or subway cars. It is as if a layer of fog has trapped the light. The loneliness and oppression of women affected him greatly. His models are mainly women.[5] Portraits, mountain landscapes, nudes, interiors such as delicatessens, cafes and workshops are frequently seen compositions on Remzi's canvases.
His works can be found in the Musee du Montparnasse, Musee Carnavalet, Musee de Dourdan, Musee National de Laon and Musee d'art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.
Personal Exhibitions
1947 Antioch
1947 Istanbul
1948 Şişli Community Center Istanbul
1950 Kırıkhan
1956 Gallery City Istanbul
1958 Surindépendants Salon Paris
1969 Boulogne sur Seine
1971 Musee National de Laon Mantes la Jolie
1972 Gallery Tivey-Faucon Paris
1972 Gallery Chantepierre Switzerland
1974 Salon d'Art Mantes la Jolie
1980 Gallery de Nevers Paris
1980 Gallery J. Auriel Toulouse
1982 Gallery Ikuo Paris
1982 Gallery J. Auriel Toulouse
1982 Association « La Rue de Bourgogne » Paris
1983 I.N.E.P. Marly-le-Roi
1985 Gallery Istria-Damez Paris
1985 Gallery J. Auriel Toulouse
1988 Artefieria Bologne Italy
1989 Gallery Nadalini Paris
1989 Gallery des Artistes Paris
1993 Gallery Étienne de Causans Paris
1997 La Capitale Gallery Paris
2001 Gallery Claudine Legrand Paris
2005 Musee du Montparnasse Paris
2008 La Capitale Gallery Paris
2012 Power Plant Istanbul Istanbul
2012 Diyarbakir
2012 Artisan Art Gallery Istanbul
2017 Bétonsalon - Center d'art et de recherche
Exposition de groupe Tell me the story of all these things. Beginning wherever you wish, tell even us. Paris