Gülderen Depas, who moved from architecture to painting and skillfully combines chaos and human nature in her works, made a big impact with her latest exhibition "As It Seems/&Not".
Gülderen Depas, known for her impressive career story from being an architect to being a painter, continues to make a big impact with her latest exhibition. In her exhibition opened at Urla Kırmızı Art Gallery, she drives art lovers into deep thoughts with her works focusing on chaos and people.
Two-layer painting technique
Depas draws attention in the art world with her two-layer painting technique, which she personally developed. Inviting the viewer to focus on both the visible and the invisible in the paintings, this technique provides a powerful narrative in the artist's works themed on chaos and people. While most of the works in the exhibition present depictions of wars and disasters at first glance, when the lights are turned on, the viewer is confronted with the human stories behind these events.
An art adventure
Gülderen Depas started her career as an architect, but after the age of 50, she entered the Painting Department of Dokuz Eylül University, Faculty of Fine Arts, and made a radical transformation in her life. She graduated from the painting department in 2010 with a third place, and in her master's thesis, she focused on "Aestheticization of Violence and Chaotic Depiction in Contemporary Painting". She reflects the discipline and aesthetic understanding brought by architecture into her paintings, offering the viewer both a mental and emotional experience.
Two faces of chaos in the exhibition
In her latest exhibition "As It Seems/&Not", Depas addresses chaos through disasters that represent the deep wounds of human history. Depas invites art lovers to a powerful visual experience by focusing on people in her portrait works and war, natural disasters and social tragedies in her spatial works. "While the viewer looks at the impressive images of chaos on the surface, the real confrontation takes place in the second layer of the paintings," says Depas.
Art in public spaces
Depas aims to exhibit her art not only in galleries, but also in public spaces. She is preparing to exhibit her two-layered painting technique, which she has developed since 2012, in areas with heavy human traffic such as the metro and airport. She states that she aims to confront the audience with the realities that they both see and cannot see.
Social responsibility projects
Depas attaches importance to not only aesthetics but also to giving social messages with her art. The mural she made on the wall of the Buca Kasaplar Square Exchange House, her works exhibited in the Ancient City of Agora, and her installation titled “As If She Never Died” and her projects that draw attention to femicides are just a few examples of this approach. In addition, she combines art and literature by focusing on the power and resilience of women with her book titled “Mona Lisa and Women Without Borders”.
Gülderen Depas, who combines her art life with social awareness, plans to take more place in public spaces in the coming period and continue her social responsibility projects. The artist’s works invite the audience to explore the multi-layered structure of life by focusing on both the visible and the invisible.
Source: https://www.haberekspres.com.tr/urlada-gorundugu-gibidegil-sergisi-sanatseverleri-buyuluyor