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Lot Essay
Mehmet Güleryüz’s distinct expressionistic style has developed over the course of nearly sixty years. His drawing practice is inherent to his painting process, becoming an infrastructural element in his artistic language that calls to mind the visceral, gestural mark-making of German Expressionism. Through his figurative works, Güleryüz uses critical and ironic language to comment on Turkey’s political transformation over time, instinctively creating theatrical narratives that examine sociocultural relations at their core.
Set amongst a crowd of medical professionals, Diagnosis depicts two figures that, at first glance, could not seem less alike. Perched precariously on the extreme edge of a wooden desk, a skeletal, Schiele-esque nude figure hunches over himself, his bulging eyes fixed impatiently on a smartly-dressed man seated below and beside him. This second protagonist holds his head in his hands, his index fingers pressed against his brow as if deep in thought. The title of the work alludes to a suspended moment of medical diagnosis for the nude man, whose head is framed by the calipers of a simple measuring device. His ailments become secondary to the diagnostic conclusion being conjured in the mind of the medical ‘expert’ in this satirical comment on the psychological dynamic between a doctor and his patient.
Born in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1938, Güleryüz studied at the State Academy of Fine Arts in the 1960s before moving to Paris in the 1970s. From then on, the artist has played an active and important role in the transformation of the art scene in Turkey. His work has been the subject of numerous important exhibitions in Turkey and across Europe, including multiple retrospectives such as Painter and Painting, where the present work was exhibited at Istanbul Modern in 2015. Güleryüz continues to live and work between Istanbul, Turkey and Paris, France.
Set amongst a crowd of medical professionals, Diagnosis depicts two figures that, at first glance, could not seem less alike. Perched precariously on the extreme edge of a wooden desk, a skeletal, Schiele-esque nude figure hunches over himself, his bulging eyes fixed impatiently on a smartly-dressed man seated below and beside him. This second protagonist holds his head in his hands, his index fingers pressed against his brow as if deep in thought. The title of the work alludes to a suspended moment of medical diagnosis for the nude man, whose head is framed by the calipers of a simple measuring device. His ailments become secondary to the diagnostic conclusion being conjured in the mind of the medical ‘expert’ in this satirical comment on the psychological dynamic between a doctor and his patient.
Born in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1938, Güleryüz studied at the State Academy of Fine Arts in the 1960s before moving to Paris in the 1970s. From then on, the artist has played an active and important role in the transformation of the art scene in Turkey. His work has been the subject of numerous important exhibitions in Turkey and across Europe, including multiple retrospectives such as Painter and Painting, where the present work was exhibited at Istanbul Modern in 2015. Güleryüz continues to live and work between Istanbul, Turkey and Paris, France.