The exhibition "Textiles and Paintings" by Çiğdem Gürel, a painter and textile artist who lived in Germany and whom we lost in 1996, was held at the Millî Reasürans Art Gallery between May 28 and June 14, 1997.
The works of painter and textile artist Çiğdem Gürel, whom we lost last year, are on view at the Millî Reasürans Art Gallery in Istanbul until June 14. Living in Germany, Gürel passed away in her mid-thirties—at what could have been the most productive period of an artist’s life. Yet despite her short life, she managed to achieve many successes and to leave behind works well worth viewing. In fact, beyond the loss itself, there is another painful aspect: although she exhibited extensively in Germany, Çiğdem Gürel had never held an exhibition in Turkey until today. In other words, although she returned with awards from many international competitions, held numerous exhibitions in many countries around the world, and received significant prizes in art centers such as Austria and New York, her first exhibition in her own country opened only after her death.
Gürel, whose works were described by Western critics such as Peter Baum as “masterpieces of world art,” accomplished a highly demanding task. She carried out her work through the following stages: first, she prepared a sketch and transferred it onto French gobelin fabric using gouache or watercolor. Finally, she began weaving her carpets, using approximately 160 different color tones. For a single carpet, she sometimes had to work day and night for six months. Describing what she felt at the loom in one of her works, she once said: “Dried leaves, tree bark, animal skins, and parchment paper inspire me to work freely with textiles. They are symbols of what has passed, of continuity in life, and at the same time of transience.”
