Exhibition melts dance, design and painting in the same pot
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Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 07, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - In a new exhibition opened over the weekend in Ankara titled "Alchemy of Dance," designer and painter Aslı Kutluay depicts the gracious figures of flamenco dancers on her canvas.
"I find body movements of dancers during their performance very aesthetic. That is why I have focused on dancers in my paintings," Kutluay said in an interview with the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.
Indeed, the exhibition by Kutluay meets visitors with the romantic and magical world of flamenco, which she animates in an expressionist way. Kutluay stated that the idea to paint flamenco figures came to her mind while she was watching the flamenco dancers at a dance festival. "I go everywhere with my sketchbook. And during the flamenco show, I drew some figures on it," she said.
Kutluay was so impressed by the dance that she even started to attend flamenco classes. "These classes also served for my paintings because I grasped the spirit of the dance and that led to better interpretations of figures on canvas," she said.
Industrial designer
Besides reflecting the world of flamenco on her paintings, Kutluay also uses the motifs in her designs as an industrial designer. "I design furniture or accessories, which are a combination of a designer’s mastery with artistic creativity," she said.
Visitors to Kutluay’s exhibition also get a chance to see samples from her special industrial designs. Hangers designed in human forms are especially striking pieces of her collection. With Kutluay’s interpretation, hangers, ordinary accessories of daily life, shed their mediocrity and gain an artistic appearance. Once again, dancing figures stand out in her special collection of hangers, and in their feminine postures, these hangers bear the spirit of love, music and rhythm. "Through my designs, what I want to do is to make people smile and be happy," Kutluay said.
Kutluay’s exhibition, which combines dance, painting and design in the same space, runs until May 17 at Bilkent Center’s Art Street.
Indeed, the exhibition by Kutluay meets visitors with the romantic and magical world of flamenco, which she animates in an expressionist way. Kutluay stated that the idea to paint flamenco figures came to her mind while she was watching the flamenco dancers at a dance festival. "I go everywhere with my sketchbook. And during the flamenco show, I drew some figures on it," she said.
Kutluay was so impressed by the dance that she even started to attend flamenco classes. "These classes also served for my paintings because I grasped the spirit of the dance and that led to better interpretations of figures on canvas," she said.
Industrial designer
Besides reflecting the world of flamenco on her paintings, Kutluay also uses the motifs in her designs as an industrial designer. "I design furniture or accessories, which are a combination of a designer’s mastery with artistic creativity," she said.
Visitors to Kutluay’s exhibition also get a chance to see samples from her special industrial designs. Hangers designed in human forms are especially striking pieces of her collection. With Kutluay’s interpretation, hangers, ordinary accessories of daily life, shed their mediocrity and gain an artistic appearance. Once again, dancing figures stand out in her special collection of hangers, and in their feminine postures, these hangers bear the spirit of love, music and rhythm. "Through my designs, what I want to do is to make people smile and be happy," Kutluay said.
Kutluay’s exhibition, which combines dance, painting and design in the same space, runs until May 17 at Bilkent Center’s Art Street.