10 must-see works in the exhibition 'Ömer Uluç: Beyond the Horizon'

In the mid-1960s, Ömer Uluç experienced, in his own words, a moment of rupture: “In a hotel in England, I began to write my own name on large pieces of paper, and the rounded form of my initial ‘Ö ’ slowly transformed into a pattern, a movement, an event. For a moment, everything was erased.” Following this moment, which he describes as a turning point in his artistic practice, Ömer Uluç began to draw patterns from the spirals he created with his stream of consciousness. Uluç named these patterns, which he created almost like a diary, ‘Coat of Arms ’.

1976Oil on canvas150 x 85 cm

Oner Kocabeyoglu Collection

Ömer Uluç lived in many cities. Among these, Lagos, Nigeria, was of particular importance to the artist. He went to Africa in 1974 and lived there for about four years, originally to work on a development project for the United Nations. Although he came here as an engineer, he continued to paint. Uluç, who was influenced by the culture, mythology and freedom of Africa in his paintings, made his ' African Queen ' series here. The first example of the series, which focuses on female figures depicted in spiral movements at human height, is ' African Queen I' .

1998Cast polyester85 x 40 cm

Special Collection

Lucy, one of the important characters in Ömer Uluç's album of living beings consisting of supernatural beings, animals and humans, is a sculpture dated 1998. With this sculpture, the artist brings to life the skeleton of the oldest conscious human, discovered 2.5 million years ago in East Africa by French anthropologist Yves Coppelin. Lucy, named after the popular song of the time by The Beatles, ' Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' , is produced by taking the mold of ropes that are bent and shaped. It is one of the examples where the artist carries his signature movement, spirals, to three dimensions.

1987Acrylic on canvas320 x 220 cm

Elfe Uluç Collection

1987Acrylic on canvas330 x 260 cm

Special Collection

The exhibition includes two works that were exhibited in the first of the Istanbul Biennial, known today as the 1st International Contemporary Art Exhibitions, in 1987. In the first of these exhibitions, which later continued under the name of the Istanbul Biennial, ' Encounter ' depicts the moment when two figures meet, while ' Submarine-Chameleon ' shows a submarine that the artist calls "My Own Moby Dick" and a chameleon that he is known to have fed while living in Africa. These works, painted in the year they were exhibited and consisting of a total of five canvases each, can be interpreted as the artist's first attempts to go beyond the boundaries of the canvas.

1998Plexiglass, polyester, acrylic140 x 85 x 85 cm

QNB Türkiye Art Collection

Inspired by the geographies he travels and researches in his works, the artist brings different subjects from Anatolian stories to Byzantine art history, from Ottoman miniatures to popular culture into his works. In one of these works, ' Cybele and Bird ', Uluç interprets the goddess Cybele, who symbolizes abundance, fertility and nature in Anatolian, Greek and Roman mythology, and the birds of prey that accompany her, in his own unique language.

1998Acrylic on canvas130 x 162 cm

Dr. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı Foundation Collection

The artist's practice is nourished by spiral movement and the speed of this movement. In his works, a form that begins as a bird can suddenly transform into a sea creature and then a cat. Moreover, Uluç, who also attributes human characteristics to these animals, makes the bond between humans and animals visible. His lions, bears or cats have friends, fiancés or lovers, as in the example of 'Cat and Fiance '.

1996Aluminum casting from rope220 x 250 cm

Ayşen–Hüsnü Özyeğin Collection

The artist's first three-dimensional sculpture was 'Landscape Sculpture / A Cypress / A Bird / A Goat ', dated 1996. Inspired by his previous landscape works on canvas, this work is 2 meters long, 2.5 meters high and consists of three wheeled plateaus. The wheels under the plateaus reinforce the idea of ​​movement, which is always at the center of the artist's style, while the rotating form of the rope visually supports this feeling.

Right Hand, Left Hand Patterns2008Mixed media on paper30 x 22 cm21 x 15 cm

Special Collection

From the series 'Right Hand, Left Hand Patterns'Rains2008Mixed media on paper21 x 15 cm

Special Collection

From the series 'Right Hand, Left Hand Patterns' Summer Memories2008 Mixed media on paper21 x 15 cm

Special Collection

The artist, who contracted an illness towards the end of his life, never gave up on creating during his treatment. During this period in which he discovered his own limits, he would draw with his left hand while taking medication from his right arm, and with his right hand while taking medication from his left arm. This series, which he called 'Right Hand, Left Hand Patterns' and which includes 52 patterns in the exhibition, originally consists of more than 500 drawings. While these patterns reveal the fragility of the period, they also reveal the artist's strong practice.

1987Oil on canvas150 x 200 cm

Oner Kocabeyoglu Collection

Ömer Uluç's connection with the sea as an artist is extremely strong. The maps in the office of his grandfather, who was one of the first doctors of the Republic, as well as the stories of Vasco de Gama and Christopher Columbus, deeply affected the artist, who was born and raised in Istanbul, from an early age. Having traveled to many cities by sea and having the opportunity to work there, the artist's interest and curiosity in the sea always remains fresh. The sea and its elements become a constant source of inspiration for him. The artist, who states that he finds a personal meaning in submarines in particular, states that these silently floating vehicles represent the finiteness of life for him.

Portrait I, Sad Eyes2002Screen print on plexiglass100 x 67 cm

Elfe Uluç Collection

The mystical creatures that fill Ömer Uluç’s visual world are nourished by mythology, folklore and the subconscious. These spiral forms, which come to life with the eyes placed by the artist, are featured in the exhibition as canvas, sculpture or as a print on plexiglass. The plexiglass material is transparent, thus referencing the permeable surfaces of ghosts. On the other hand, these beings, which appear to be floating in the air because they are suspended from the ceiling in the exhibition, come to life with the colors on the plexiglass.

Born in 1931, Ömer Uluç graduated from Robert College in 1953 and studied engineering and then painting in the USA. The artist, who was a member of the group called 'Attic Painters' founded in 1951 under the leadership of Nuri İyem, lived in Paris and London in 1965, in the USA and Mexico in 1972–1973, in Nigeria between 1974–1977, and between Paris and Istanbul from 1982 until his death in 2010. Uluç, who created an album of living beings consisting of humans, animals, and unnatural beings with a sharp sense of irony and humor, as a result of his living and traveling in various geographies, became one of the artists who constantly kept the spirit of discovery and research of modern art fresh.