x0x "Le Monde" calls Turkish artist Bedri Baykam the "Andy Warhol" of Turkey
Turkish Radio Hour
French newspaper Le Monde has published a long article about Turkish
artist Bedri Baykam. The article was entitled "Bedri Baykam, Kemalism
and Pop Art."
The article, announced on page one of Le Monde, draws the article and
political career of Turkish painter, writer and political activist
Bedri Baykam. Nicolas Monceau describes Baykam in his article as an
artist "whose creativity spills out." Describing first the exotic
atmosphere in Baykam's studio in the 150-year-old Armenian monastery
in Taksim-Tarlabasi, Monceau goes on to remind the reader that the
artist got an early start in his career back in 1963 as a child
prodigy with exhibitions running all over the world.
The article goes through the career of the artist recounting his
presence as one of the pioneers of the Neo-Expressionist art movement
as early as 1981 with his famous work "The Prostitute's Room."
Monceau also mentions in detail the content of Baykam's 1984 Manifesto
"Modern Art History is a Western Fait Accompli" and his 1994 book
"Monkeys' Right to Paint." The artist who accuses the western art
establishment of one-sidedly building the modern and contemporary art
scene as solely the history of five rich European nations, defines
himself as a cultural guerilla.
Monceau goes on to describe the heavy eroticism present in Baykam's
recent work "Girly Plots" and "Harem Intrigues" as a suite to his
flamboyant installations described as "Livart" since his first
political three dimensional work "The Box of Democracy" in 1987.
Monceau notes that the artist clearly dynamites all the stereotyped
images that any Western artist has about Turkey because nobody would
expect his moves filled with suggestive peep-shows, soundtracks,
graffiti, out of control happenings, coming from an artist who belongs
to a Muslim country.
Monceau also gives detailed information about Baykam's activism for
secularism and Kemalism, through the artist's own words, explaining
why he applauds the so-called "Post-Modern Coup d'Etat" of February
28, 1997, and why he doesn't trust Tayyip Erdogan's AKP's role in the
Turkish democracy.
However, in his last statements Baykam emphasizes his lasting trust to
the capacities of Turkey's democratic and artistic forces.
Istanbul - Turkish Daily News
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