Lot 97: Selma Gurbuz (Turkish, b. 1960)

Selma Gurbuz (Turkish, b. 1960)
Kedili Doga (Nature with Cats)
signed and dated 'S. G. 08' (lower right)
acrylic on canvas
60¾ x 113in. (154.5 x 287cm.)
Painted in 2008

Istanbul, Akbank Kultur Sanat Merkezi (AKSM), Uninvited, January 2009

This lot offered for sale is subject to a 5% import duty on the importation value levied at the time of collection/shipment within the UAE.
There are strong echoes of the high Ottoman and traditional folk art of Turkey in the art of Selma Gurbuz. Her distinctly drawn figures corresponding to archetypes are set out flat against the picture plane, recalling those of Turkish miniatures. There is a strong resemblance of some of these figures to those of Oriental shadow theatre, the puppets almost skeletal so as to pick out the details against the light. The cats in this painting, drawn in bold lines against a luminous yellow ground, recall this effect, but so too do they resemble the animal and figural calligraphic compositions of Ottoman scribes.
Whilst the combination of these elements are uniquely Turkish and rooted in the culture of that country, the other features- the bright colours, eclectic subject matter and surreal goings on- give her works a sense of being highly personal, giving the viewer a window into the day dreams of the artist. Indeed, Selma Gurbuz's works are improvisations and are not thought out in advance. As she says 'I have a world that I am trying to build through memories and other things I have accumulated until now.'