Same village in 98 paintings
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Anatolia News Agency
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Ocak 21, 2009 00:00
MERSİN - A painter from the Mediterranean city of Mersin, Bilal Geniş, has painted the city’s Sunturas (Çağlarca) village 98 times. The paintings that Geniş has made from different angles are also drawing interest from art lovers in the United States, France and Saudi Arabia as well as Turkey.
Preparing to open an exhibition in Germany upon requests, Geniş, 55, said he had started painting when he was a child and has actively been working as a painter for the last 12 years. He said he had so far opened more than 100 exhibitions, adding: "I visited Sunturas village years ago. This place, which reminds me of the Black Sea region, amazed me."
From different angles
Geniş said he had started drawing the village using photos he had taken, and added: "When my paintings received great attention from art lovers, I continued visiting the village. I painted the village every weekend from a different angle. In this way I discovered a different part of it and painted it on canvas."
Nearly 20 of these paintings were in Mersin, said Geniş, adding: "Besides various Turkish cities, 26 of my paintings were sold in Germany, four were sold in the U.S., two in France and four or five were sold in Saudi Arabia.
Geniş said he had so far painted Sunturas village 98 times, that he had sold 97 out of those painting but could not decide whether to sell his 90th painting. He said he had intended to sell the painting in some of his exhibitions but given up because he was offered a low price.
$15,000 value
"In the 90th painting, I placed a female body in the scene. I put human silhouettes in many parts of the painting but they cannot be seen at first fight. I valued this painting $15,000 in an exhibition in Adana. They offered 9,000 (Turkish) liras but I didn’t sell it. Now I increased the price to $25,000. But the U.S, British and French painters with whom I talk on the Internet think this price is too low. They say that it can be sold at $100,000 in their own country. Because there are four or five different styles in the painting, and I completed it in seven months."
Genis said he was planning to settle in Sunturas village in the next years, and that he would continue to draw its paintings until the end of his life.
From different angles
Geniş said he had started drawing the village using photos he had taken, and added: "When my paintings received great attention from art lovers, I continued visiting the village. I painted the village every weekend from a different angle. In this way I discovered a different part of it and painted it on canvas."
Nearly 20 of these paintings were in Mersin, said Geniş, adding: "Besides various Turkish cities, 26 of my paintings were sold in Germany, four were sold in the U.S., two in France and four or five were sold in Saudi Arabia.
Geniş said he had so far painted Sunturas village 98 times, that he had sold 97 out of those painting but could not decide whether to sell his 90th painting. He said he had intended to sell the painting in some of his exhibitions but given up because he was offered a low price.
$15,000 value
"In the 90th painting, I placed a female body in the scene. I put human silhouettes in many parts of the painting but they cannot be seen at first fight. I valued this painting $15,000 in an exhibition in Adana. They offered 9,000 (Turkish) liras but I didn’t sell it. Now I increased the price to $25,000. But the U.S, British and French painters with whom I talk on the Internet think this price is too low. They say that it can be sold at $100,000 in their own country. Because there are four or five different styles in the painting, and I completed it in seven months."
Genis said he was planning to settle in Sunturas village in the next years, and that he would continue to draw its paintings until the end of his life.