Sezai Kara

Art Perspective;

Sezai Kara or Illustrated Essays on Romanticism and Light
Written by: Çerkes Karadağ
Sezai Kara is a painter whose works I have been aware of for many years, who I have followed and witnessed a part of his painting adventure. I wanted to write about the artist whose works and periodic changes I have closely observed a long time ago and make a critical assessment of his works. However, since I have been away from Ankara for a few years and I believe that I have been lacking in establishing periodic and communicative connections between his paintings during this period, I could not fulfill this wish. Nevertheless, when I evaluated his paintings that I saw on social media and exhibited at fairs, I decided that it would be more appropriate to write about his recent works. Because I saw the new perspective that Sezai Kara, who I can define as an unrewarded and uncompromising painting worker, put forward in his paintings as the works closest to me because of the romantic and warm messages he conveyed. Therefore, I believed that it would be much more beautiful and acceptable to write about what he achieved at least within certain limits when considering his paintings.

In fact, art is not only an exciting adventure under the shadow of a utopia, but also a road accident. It is a road accident because it is always possible to encounter unpredictable ideas, coincidental encounters and surprising images in art. Moreover, this aspect of art does not only remind us of how important and valuable passion, determination and patience are, but also reveals the extent to which an effective motivation that keeps the artist alive is necessary.

Art has a different effect-counter-effect power that brings the depths closer and pushes the close towards the unknown. Therefore, the artist must have a strong foresight and a deep and consistent creative discipline. In fact, the artist is expected to respond to external influences with a meaningful reaction and to the call of objects with a sincere stance and determined attitude. It is not surprising that Sezai Kara, who initially worked patiently on the reflection of a magical light beam and brought the secret of objects to the fore, continues his skills and tendencies intensively today. The main reason I am expressing this testimony here is not only due to occasionally observing the artist’s close-up works, but it should also be said that the long conversations we had in various places and venues played a big role in this. Indeed, these observations and conversations played a big role in my expressing Sezai Kara’s uncompromising devotion to brightness and the light he casts on objects from an uncertain front, and also that he is a passionate painter. Because it would be a very easy view to explain his internalization of light so much with the artist’s respect for light. Perhaps this love he feels for light stems from a work determination and discipline that Sezai Kara has internalized and passionately pursued, who knows?

Although Sezai Kara’s paintings seem to invite the viewer to an environment blended with light and color, on the contrary, the paintings highlight an atmosphere that does not require any intermediary and is surrounded by the magic of a ball of light. Therefore, we cannot talk about a connection that contradicts or contrasts between the flowers accompanying the women and the stance of a water glass accompanying the flowers in the pot. In fact, visual elements either complement each other or assume a responsibility that strengthens the unity in Sezai Kara’s paintings. Because the collaboration established by the artist between contradictory objects reveals a hierarchical coordination that is articulated to each other rather than a wild kinship.
In today’s popular culture and art environment, where visual images are circulated uncontrollably, the artist is seen or shown as a technician responsible for applying generally accepted formalist understandings rather than a visual designer. Of course, this understanding is not a choice of the artist, but rather stems from the imposition of the purpose of certain tendencies and organizations under the guise of art. When viewed from this perspective, Sezai Kara and artists with similar attitudes do not give up on producing works that are in line with the values ​​they firmly embrace, despite the pressure of such tendencies. When we examine Sezai Kara's paintings in the light of these determinations, it is unnecessary to explain how still lifes, women, flowers..., flowers..., and especially flowers find a reliable ground for themselves in a bright frame. Because the artist does not choose his images from flashy objects to please us, but instead prefers them to create a justification for the transformation of the connections between objects into an effective artistic language. It would not be appropriate for me not to mention the illuminated romantic universe that I have seen in Sezai Kara's paintings for a quarter of a century. The pictorial language that Sezai Kara has captured in his recent paintings, which have gained the highest level of appreciation among art lovers and are about women and flowers, easily integrates the artist's perspective with an Impressionist past. Because Impressionism has made romanticism, like the objective truth it clearly reveals, a valuable element in art. When I compare his blue-green paintings, which I liked very much in the 1990s, with his new works, the artist’s variety of color universe will be better seen. Indeed, the flowers in a vase, silhouette women and the image of a dove have been remembered as the main symbols that complete the appeal of the paintings of this period.

Today, the artist prefers to present an emotional atmosphere and a poetic romanticism in his paintings. For example, the shy and embarrassed young women with their heads slightly turned to the side, the frivolous relationship they establish with the flowers in the vase, which gives the impression of being made in an instant. Or the love game of wildflowers that are substituted for a young man, which completes the romanticism, are poetic images that can be expressed in an instant. Sezai Kara is a painter who simplifies his feelings and makes them visible on canvases through symbols. He is an artist who is in love with creativity, who uncompromisingly turns to every new perspective and understanding in painting.

Sezai Kara’s “Illustrated Essays on Romanticism and Light”, which are the subject of my article, are paintings with a simple poetic flavor and high sensitivity. In this series of paintings that compromise with the silky touch of the watercolor technique, the artist makes an uninvited journey into the spiritual world of women. Sezai Kara, who has included women in other paintings in the past years, prefers to paint young women who have not yet reached maturity, together with their sadness and expectations in this new process. He touches the naive and unpolluted world of women with wildflowers. Sezai Kara's old paintings, especially the series of flowers in pots, were a very qualified series of works that made me feel the excitement of still life all over again. With his simple compositions, simplicity and successfully used colors that he mastered masterfully, Sezai Kara's still lifes had a place in my memory as beautiful examples of yesterday that reveal the artist's detailed vision and colorist understanding.

Sezai Kara's paintings not only keep the impulses (calls) of our inner world in an emotional frame that makes them inviting and attractive, but also share romantic images that surround us with mystery. Thus, he sees no harm in making us embrace his paintings by surrounding them with an inner atmosphere. Sezai Kara, who follows a different route from his generation of artists, clearly prefers a creative form of interpretation by keeping stereotypical images of nature at bay. He responds to the dominant visuality of nature by highlighting his own nature and beauties.

To tell the truth, Sezai Kara has an original, naive and colorist identity just like his paintings. Because the artist is careful to realize his choices and preferences by separating nature. He offers the viewer a ostentatious simplicity that reflects his own naive spirit through the pictorial symbols he personalizes. Of course, the clearest indicator of the universal language of art is the emotional and spiritual expression that dominates a successful work. Therefore, works of art try to institutionalize human tendencies as a concrete and productive value through this expression.

Sezai Kara is an artist who adopts an artistic line that symbolizes (integrates) his voice in lights, his feelings in flowers, his volatile soul in pigeons and his existence in women and creates himself with these imaginative motifs. Because in Sezai Kara's paintings, ideas and images, consistency and creativity present a unity as if they are the basic dynamics expressing a common purpose. In the light of these remarks and determinations, it is useful to express the following. "As much as the language of art is universal, Sezai Kara's art has emotional tones to the same extent."

In short, Sezai Kara does not go to his goal with a set of tools, but proceeds by using tools and indicators as material for his purpose in pictorial symbols. Moreover, instead of getting stuck in uncertain searches, he prefers to transform his searches into a show by equipping them with the most concrete objective values ​​such as color and light. Istanbul, October 5, 2021

Selected from Personal Exhibitions;
Gallery Soyut
Emin Antik Art Center
Sevgi Art Gallery
Valör Art Gallery
Istanbul Bakraç Art Gallery
Izmir Çamkıran Art Gallery
Mersin Visual Art Gallery
Istanbul Gallery OM
Gözde Art Gallery
Halkbank Art Gallery
İş Bankası Art Gallery
Çankaya Akbank Art Gallery
Farabi Akbank Art Gallery