In its 21st exhibition, BonVivant meets art lovers with the “Devoted to the Moment” exhibition by Artist Sema Barlas.
“Devoted to the Moment” interprets the traces of memories with human landscapes where multiplicity represents unity and unity represents multiplicity, sometimes as delayed and sometimes longed-for meetings. In this exhibition, where the past multi-figure aesthetics are replaced by more distinct and descriptive single figures in Sema Barlas’ works, we observe that the figures are sometimes enriched with symbolic and sometimes expressionist elements.
Artist Sema Barlas was born in Istanbul in 1954. She immigrated to the USA with her family at a young age. She lived in Canada for many years. She completed her education at the Ottawa School of Art in Canada. Her painting adventure has been ongoing since the moment she became interested in painting. In addition to domestic and international exhibitions, she has participated in many competitions, group exhibitions and workshops. In 2000, she received the Jury Special Award in the Sculpture category at the Turgut Pura Competition and in 2016, she received the Euro 2016 D Category Gran Premio Europa award. With her paintings where the myths about the figure are enriched and shaped, the artist always conveys the views that belong to us with a power of observation, with her expressions that multiplicity represents unity and unity represents multiplicity. In her recent works, the artist gives way to the aesthetics of multiple figures coming from the past with her portraits, which she sometimes creates with a symbolic narrative and sometimes with expressionist tastes, to more descriptive single figures. Despite the static stances of her portraits, the mobility in the eyes, faces and facial expressions is full of an inherent power of observation and suggestions regarding their or the artist's character. Since she started painting, Sema Barlas has been constantly developing herself and eventually creating original works in the figurative field.
She continues her painting works in her studio in Izmir and Ottawa. The opening reception of the exhibition was held on September 2, 2024, and it attracted the attention of many art lovers along with local and foreign artists, while an exhibition tour and talk with Artist Sema Barlas was held on the opening day with the participation of all art lovers.
BonVivant Founder Perihan İnci “BonVivant”, who said that they have hosted 20 exhibitions and more than 40 artists to date, stated that after Alsancak, they have brought a new breath to the culture, art and business world of Izmir with their new event center in Passport.
The “An’a Adanmış” exhibition, which will be open to visitors between September 3, 2024 and October 5, 2024, will bring art enthusiasts together at Alsancak BonVivant.
Source: https://www.gozlemgazetesi.com/2024/09/03/ana-adanmis-sergisi/