The exhibition of painter from Mardin, İsmet Yedikardeş, met with visitors at Gelişim University. Artist Yedikardeş and the curator of the exhibition, Dr. We talked with Günay about Yedikardeş's artistic life and its importance in Turkish art.
Artist İsmet Yedikardeş's exhibition "Reform from Reformation" was opened by Istanbul Gelişim University (IGU) Vocational School at Gelişim Art Gallery. Dr. curator of the exhibition stated that they had a 'beautiful opening' with wide participation from the art, politics and academy communities. Lecturer Mustafa Günay gave information about İsmet Yedikardeş's artistic life and works. Yedikardeş said the following about his exhibition:
“My exhibition had three main themes. One was Mardin. We had the chance to introduce Mardin. We had a governor 20 years ago, Temel Koçaklar. He was more like a tourist guide than a governor. He was both a governor and a tourism professional. He would bring a newspaper or a news agency to Mardin every day. We joined hands with him. 'Mr. İsmet,' he said, 'Can you draw Mardin?' I said, 'I will.' This is my duty of loyalty. I drew Mardin for 10 years and opened exhibitions in America and Austria. My first exhibition was opened in the hall of honor of the Turkish Grand National Assembly. At that time, we used to say that there would be an influx of tourists to Mardin in the future, but no one believed it. They were wondering if you were dreaming, but that's exactly what happened. Now it needs to be introduced outside for the second stage. “Foreign tourists will contribute a lot here.”
The curator of the exhibition is Dr. Lecturer Member Mustafa Günay stated that they are in the fourth year of the opening of the art gallery at the university and that they have hosted the works of many names that have shaped Turkish art so far. Günay stated that they organized a ceremony for the opening of the exhibition themed "From Reformation to Reform" by ceramic and painting artist İsmet Yedikardeş, one of the artists who shaped and left a mark on Turkish art, and gave the following information about the artist;
“İsmet Yedikardeş was born in Mardin in 1947, completed his primary, secondary and high school education in Mardin, which we call his father's home. He is a lucky person in terms of art because he was born from an artist family. His father was also a good ceramic master and had pottery workshops. My teacher İsmet spent his childhood and youth in this ceramics workshop with his father. The artist had a great interest in archeology and history from an early age. We always saw historical textures in the ceramic figures he made in his father's pottery workshop at that time. He improved himself here and joined the Archeology Department of Istanbul University. Due to various political and student events of the period, he left his education unfinished, but he always had the idea of getting a better art education and decided to go to Germany. With the guidance of a German academician at the Istanbul Academy of Applied Arts, he entered the Stuttgart Academy of Fine Arts and joined the ceramics and sculpture department.
He graduated with honors in 1977, opened personal exhibitions in Germany, the USA and many European countries, participated with his works in group exhibitions in the field of painting and ceramics, and his works were included in many collections there. Then our artist decided to return to Turkey. He founded Gürpınar Art Workshop in Istanbul in 1991 and continues his artistic activities in this workshop until today.
Source:https://www.aydinlik.com.tr/haber/mardinli-ressam-ismet-yedikardesin-sergisi-magara-resminden-soyuta-insan-yasamini-ciziyor-454392