Foetus (2010) Painting by Gültekin Bilge

Gültekin Bilge (pronounced Beelgay) is a Turkish Cypriot Artist. He was born in 1945 in Ceyhan, Paphos and is a graduate of the Istanbul Academy of Fine Arts. His artworks convey messages about life and the nature of relationships on many different levels. They have a haunting emotional quality, revealing a rich and colourful internal landscape that is imaginative, insightful, and sometimes deeply troubled.

Gültekin has a very unique way of viewing human experience. His journey through life has not been easy and it would be impossible to separate his life from his art. At times he finds it difficult to fit into the “normal” world. He often describes himself an outsider who does not perceive things in the same way as others see them. Even from an early age he seems to have known that he was somehow different from those around him. His artworks reveal his intensely subjective view of life and human relationships.

Endlessly restless and constantly searching for new and different modes of expression in oil painting, Gültekin is never satisfied with one effect or technique. He seems to continuously push the boundaries by developing new techniques and trying out new ways of working to develop new and different forms.

Early years

Growing up in Cyprus during the 1950s and 1960s there were many ethnic tensions. Even as a small boy Gültekin can remember being subjected to ethnic prejudice. However for the most part his early years were spent leading a simple and relatively peaceful life in the village of Ceyhan, which is in the south west Cyprus. Close to the village was a river where white limestone rocks were washed downstream by the current. As a boy he spent many hours carving these stones to produce figures of animals and people. All of these early carvings and other early works were lost when his family were made refugees several times during the troubled years between 1963 - 1974.

At school Gültekin demonstrated a talent for drawing portraits; he dreamt of becoming an artist, but given the circumstances there were limited opportunities to develop his artistic abilities. This period in the history of Cyprus was dominated by ethnic tensions and violence flared up regularly. There was an ongoing campaign within elements of the Greek Cypriot community to achieve union with Greece and to rid the island of the Turkish Cypriot people. Turkish Cypriot villages were attacked and many people had to flee their homes; they moved to other villages or fled into the hills for safety. Greek Cypriots controlled many checkpoints and Turkish Cypriots were not free to travel across the island; they couldn’t even go to the seaside to swim because it was too dangerous to travel from their villages. As a schoolboy of 13 years old Gültekin was regularly on night watch to alert his community in case there was a night time attack on their village. At the age of eighteen Gültekin was drafted into military service by the Turkish community; for ove...

• Nationality: CYPRUS
• Date of birth : 1945
• Artistic domains:
• Groups: Contemporary Cypriot Artists