Şemsi Altaş “THAT MOMENT!”

Şemsi Altaş

THAT MOMENT!

Young artist Şemsi Altaş solo exhibition “O AN!” and at Art Suites Gallery Beyoğlu between 13 February – 9 March 2013.

The students, whom the artist portrays with an expressive attitude, seem to represent the “moments” in the system. The audience can only see the moment captured by the artist and the expressions reflected by the artist. As the students pose for the ‘self’ of the painting, we see their faded faces, creating faces whose identity we cannot see. Thanks to the expression created by the artist with colors, we can only get an idea about the people in the picture.

“In the paintings of Şemsi Altaş, which we do not know before and after, we only witnessed at that moment, instant situations lead us to question. We are faced with excitement, fears, astonishment and expectations that develop in the moment of life. The transformation of life itself affects people and expressions become a means of communication. In these paintings, which can be a means of communication for the audience, the atmosphere in that moment was tried to be reflected.

If we look at Altaş’s paintings from a plastic perspective; “Every painting that is moving or standing still exhibits a certain intention, even a certain order. “Painting is valid in many cases, first of all, it is a surface covered with colors brought together in a certain order.” (Rudel, 1991,89). Just as Rudel mentioned, the figures on the surface covered with colors in Altaş’s paintings lead us to question with their expressions. While doing this, each canvas surface offers us a different moment. As the expressions change, the movements and hand positions of the figures change. It can reflect more than one situation at each stance. Just like John Berger (2003) saying that “behind what is visible lies hundreds of unselected visibility possibilities”. Sometimes calm and sometimes complex surfaces are encountered on the canvas. Color and stain are always in this formation. In Altaş’s paintings, the elements that become concrete from time to time in the hidden space support the expression on the faces of the figures.

In order to share the moment together, the gaze in the pictures are directed towards the viewer, as if the viewer and the watched place have changed. The figures wait for the audience to fill the possible gaps that may occur in the previous or next moment. ”

Şemsettin Edeer