MA Graduation Show

Over the centuries there have been many changes in the condition of painting. Changes in materials, themes and scale. Changes have been made also in the purpose of painting, especially after the invention of photography, and its criteria of being art. In addition, the role of the artist was not always the same throughout the centuries. Adorno claimed that “It is self-evident that nothing concerning art is self-evident any more,...” ( Danto 2003 p.17).

So, parallel to all these changes the social evaluation of the artist have changed constantly re defining his/her identity. The artist’s expectations are different and so are the expectations of the public. The idea of constant change in human history and history of art also requires a constant re- definition of my personal journey of art practice. This is the basic theme of my painting installation for my MA graduation exhibition. I am re-defining my opinion about painting through painting. I am visualizing my thoughts regarding basic questions such as what is painting, what could be painting and what makes a painting a work of art. Painting needs to be re defined.

Its role in life and in the arts needs to be delineate and adapted to the demands of contemporary culture. I am in the search of finding new ways to trace out the meaning of painting through painting; to discover ways of communicating ideas about painting through painting itself. It is a challenge to reveal a contemporary approach in meaning making through painting, a medium which is deeply connected to history and tradition. My paintings are an opening to a dialogue and the coexistence of contrastive elements. This works refers to the need of linking the past to the present, the history to my own experiences, and connecting the personal interests to the public. Images of paintings, masterpieces and some of my own paintings, have been chosen to be manipulated and transformed into something else. This is a clear reference to the history of art and also it operates as an auto-critic, a comment on the investigation of my own practice.