The works of Nasip and Nuri İyem, two of Türkiye's finest artists who were married for 61 years, have reunited at the Bursa Tayyare Cultural Center after 21 years. In the exhibition "You Are Before My Eyes," the artists look at each other, and the audience looks at them. The exhibition reveals "two striking life and art stories" unfolding before our eyes.
1915: Nuri is born in Istanbul. 1918: Upon receiving news that his father, Hüsnü Hüseyin Bey, a military medical personnel whose name was listed as missing during the war, was living in Diyarbakır, he and his mother, Melek, and older sister traveled to Cizre and settled there. 1922: He lost his older sister, and he and his mother moved first to Diyarbakır and then to Istanbul for his education, where he began primary school.
1921: Nasip was born in Bakırköy, Istanbul. 1925: She moved with her mother and father to Gönen, Balıkesir, to live with her pottery uncles, where she was introduced to clay, clay, and soil. 1927: She returned to Istanbul and began attending Fatih Primary School. She received her first art training at the Fatih Community Center. 1932: She entered Cağaloğlu Middle School but was admitted to Validebağ Preventive Hospital due to a lung condition. After recovering, she began attending Cağaloğlu Girls' Art School.
Nuri, born in 1915, entered the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts in 1933 and graduated first in her class in 1937. Nasip, born in 1921, entered the same school in 1939. Nasip and Nuri met while attending the same school in 1940. After four years spent "in front of each other," Nuri asks Nasip, "Will you marry me, but think carefully." Nasip doesn't think much of it.
Marriage
She later recounts: "In that enchanted world of the Academy, we were the youngest and the freshest exiles. Nuri was an idol to us, something like a demigod. With his extraordinary talent for painting, his strong personality and character, and his exceptionally warm approach to everyone, even the youngest, within the art guild, we respected and loved him in a different way. Then, unexpectedly, one day, he asked me, 'Nasip, will you be my wife?' Was it real or a dream? I couldn't tell. I wandered around in a trance for a few days. Then the days and weeks flew by, and I found myself as Mrs. Nasip İyem."
They married in 1944. A wedding table was set at the home of their painter friend, Haşmet Akal, and celebrations continued until dawn. Nasip İyem described that day in an interview: "When daylight came, we threw aside the wedding dress, the wire veil, put on our everyday prints, and, with 35 kuruş left in his pocket, we joyfully arrived at our home in Aksaray by tram, on the arm of my husband."
War Years, Endless Struggle
In 1944, the "You Are Before My Eyes" years began for the couple. During their 61-year marriage, both lived their lives both "in front of" and "behind" each other's eyes. These years were often marked by poverty, hard work, and struggle. Nasip İyem gave birth to their first child while Nuri İyem was in custody. When necessary, she put aside her artistic pursuits to care for her children. She designed ceramics for banks and homes, drew patterns in fabric factories, worked in ceramics workshops, and painted coupon fabrics. Like the Anatolian women she loved, whose sculptures and ceramics she would later create, she would do anything to feed her family.
Nuri İyem tried for a civil service position, but failed. He gave private lessons and painted books and murals. Sometimes they would buy art from local shopkeepers for their artwork, and when they couldn't afford sable brushes, they even made brushes from their own hair. The post-World War II economic crisis, their chosen profession, and the hardships of their path. Because their political views were deemed "dangerous," life became even more difficult, and two children and "unpaid" jobs like painting tested the young artists. But they did not abandon their professions and their right to a free life, which they defended. They gradually overcame these difficult times by relying on each other, their friends, and their passionate devotion to painting and sculpture. In 1946, Nuri İyem and Nasip İyem held their first solo exhibitions, respectively, in 1955. In 1958, they exhibited their works together for the first time, at the American Cultural Center. Subsequent group and solo exhibitions, domestic and international awards, biennials, the establishment of workshops, international exhibitions, and medals followed. While Nasip fell behind and Nuri İyem rose to prominence, both artists became Turkey's most honored artists, inspiring future generations with their contributions to the country's art scene and, of course, inspiring many with the exquisitely detailed work they produced, which they could not get enough of. And it's clear that the artists' subtleties will bring hope and peace to people in today's world, when everything seems so crude, and in the pessimistic future.
Reunion after 21 years
Nasip and Nuri's last exhibition together will be held in 2024 at the Evin Art Gallery in Istanbul. Nuri İyem passed away not long after, in 2005. In 2011, Nasip İyem returned to the land he loved so much, where he created his ceramics and fell in love with his potter uncles as a child.
Now, exactly 21 years later, Nasip and Nuri İyem are face to face and side by side in the exhibition "You Are Before My Eyes," curated by Yasemin Bay at the Bursa Tayyare Cultural Center. Opened in collaboration with Evin, the exhibition is a wonderful opportunity to witness the couple's love for each other and their love for art in Bursa until November 30th.
The exhibition "You Are Before My Eyes" brings together Nasip İyem's ceramic and terracotta works, Nuri İyem's paintings, the couple's life story, and family photographs. The exhibition showcases works from Turkey's leading collections alongside the family collection. It showcases the individual styles, shared sensibilities, and intersecting productions of two artists who draw from Anatolia's cultural heritage and shape Turkish art in their respective fields.
The artist couple, whose works draw on Anatolia's deep-rooted civilizations and become the voices of this land, "You Are Before My Eyes" is a tribute to the deep love Nasip and Nuri İyem feel for each other in their art and life, and their devotion to Anatolia and humanity. The exhibition's title, which emphasizes a deep bond, points to the couple's constant presence in each other's minds and hearts, and to their perspectives on both life and art.
The couple's works point to something else: Women in paintings and ceramics may now have more rights, but their hard work never diminishes. They still make the world go round.
Source: https://www.agos.com.tr/tr/yazi/36454/hep-gozlerimin-onunde-hep-gozler-onunde