Mehmet Yücel - Turkish Painting Association - UK- Headquartered in London

Who is Mehmet Yücel?

Let’s listen to the life story of Mehmet Yücel, in his own words, in whose works you can see the symbols of societies from every culture, belief and race;
“I was born in 1978, in the neighborhood we call Dedeosman, around Balıklıgöl in Şanlıurfa. I am the 9th child of a family whose financial situation was not very good. I completed my primary and secondary education here. I can say that I have never seen my mother. My father died when I was 15 years old.

I have had a love of art since childhood. I often drew portraits of the people around me. Sometimes my close circle would even ask me what kind of job this was. When I was in high school, I always dreamed of becoming an archaeologist, but my painting talent was at the forefront.

During my high school years, I was drawing portraits of my friends. In my senior year of high school, with the guidance of my art teacher, I started a painting course in the current conservation board building, which used to be a fine arts gallery. While I was working as a street vendor, I was also drawing portraits live for an hour next to my loom. At that time, you did not have as many course options as you do now, and there were no teachers to teach you. We gathered together with our friends at our friend’s house once a day and prepared for the exams. And in 1997, I was accepted to Gazi University, Department of Art Teaching and studied art until 2001.

I have been working as a visual arts teacher since 2001. After working in Iskenderun for 5 years, I returned to Urfa in 2007 after 10 years. I organized painting courses for adults within the Karaköprü Municipality for 4 years. Afterwards, I stopped giving courses due to my master's degree. I'm currently at the thesis stage. And I still work as a visual arts educator at a school in Karaköprü. Apart from my teaching, I carry out my artistic work in my studio at home for 3 hours every day, and in addition to doing research on art education, I write articles about art education. I send my works to group exhibitions in a different city almost every month.
I create my works with a colorist approach. Because the region I live in is actually a mosaic that includes many different beliefs, cultures, clothing and languages. It's kind of a colorful region. As a language of expression, I am inspired by patchwork, which is an indispensable part of our region. Forty patch dada actually consists of many colorful pieces. But of course I embroider the patchwork using paint. In my subjects, I deal with characters who lived in this region and their stories. Abdal is one of the characters I use most. The tree of life, the tree of wishes, and Noah's ark are among the symbols I use most. Each of my works tells a story. However, those who read and listen to this story will understand it when they examine my paintings. Another feature of my paintings is that as you look at them, you see intertwined figures. Thought-provoking works. While creating my paintings, I consider each piece separately and decide which color and motif I will use.

You can see symbols of societies from every culture, belief and race in my works. Because many civilizations have lived in Anatolia until now. The characteristics of each civilization or society are different from each other. Also, there is not just one type of person living in this world. There are various societies with different characteristics. A world to live in together.”

COMPETITIVE EXHIBITIONS
2016 ‘SAKÜDER’ painting competition/exhibition
2016 Şanlıurfa Municipality Culture of Living Together / 2nd Prize
2015 ADÇ. Painting competition/exhibition
2014 Dumlupınar University 'Different and Together' / exhibition
2008 Young talents wanted/exhibition Ankara
2006 'Şanlıurfa' themed painting competition / honorable mention

SOME OF THE GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2017 gallery mavist / Istanbul
2017 Art Ankara International Contemporary Art Fair / Ato Congre Center
2017 'Saküder Ankara Meeting' / Contemporary Arts Cultural Center.
2016 Gallery Niş Istanbul
2015 art balkan / balkan countries
2015 ‘GORSED’ Dicle University, Diyarbakır
2014 Nigde University
2014 Çanakkale 'Peace Honeycombs' Open space exhibition. Canakkale
2014 'GORSED' Erzincan University Exhibition Hall
2005 'Painters from Şanlıurfa' ŞURKAV Exhibition Hall. Sanliurfa