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Turkish painter Funda Iyce Tuncel has opened her 65th solo exhibition, “I Remember It as Paris” (“Paris Diye Hatirliyorum”), at the Hasan Saritas Gallery, a contemporary art gallery in Kadikoy on the Asian side of Istanbul.
Known for placing women at the center of her work, Tuncel presents 20 paintings that focus on the history of Paris, the traces the city leaves in memory, and the period's aesthetic sensibility.
Tuncel told Anadolu Agency that she first visited Paris 33 years ago and was influenced by the city and the artists who lived there.
“Many artists lived in Paris. That bohemian era, the emergence of avant-garde art, the birth of modern art, names like Picasso and Modigliani influenced me greatly,” she said. “I also paint women figures a lot. I thought, why should I not paint the women of that period and remind people of that era once more?”
She said the exhibition title comes from the idea of remembering. “There is a city in all our minds. As we remember that city, we reshape it in our memory,” Tuncel said. “This series came about from the relationship between place, memory and people.”
Tuncel said she draws on the clothing, hats and aesthetic sensibility of the period. The works show lively city life in the background and women looking at the viewer in the foreground.
“The women look at you and that recalls that Paris,” she said.
She said the series differs from her earlier work inspired by fairy tales and other stories in its colors, texture and chosen imagery.
Tuncel said her biggest motivation as an artist is to leave a lasting mark. “When I pass from this world, I want them to know me and say, ‘Such a painter lived,’” she said. “It makes me very happy that people have started to recognize the paintings I have produced for years.”
Tuncel has taken part in 215 exhibitions to date, 65 solo and 150 group. “I Remember It as Paris” can be visited until Nov. 10.
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