Adnan Çoker, 1927-2022

Adnan Çoker studied under Zeki Kocamemi at the Academy of Fine Arts between 1945 and 1951. Since his years as a student, he has tried to answer the question of how nature could be analyzed in abstract art. He is interested in the space that surrounds an object, the geometric constructs of a composition, and reducing color and expression to an absolute minimum. In 1953, Çoker and another artist, Lütfü Günay, organized a show of abstract paintings at the Faculty of Language, History, and Geography at Ankara University. It is generally acknowledged as the first exhibition of abstract art held in Turkey. Çoker’s paintings of this period explored line, rhythm, and tone, in an approach that was neither fully abstract nor entirely Cubist. The artist looked for ways in which he could combine an abstract view of traditional Turkish art with European artistic traditions.

Upon arriving in Paris in 1955, Çoker worked briefly with André Lhote before moving on to Henri Goetz’s studio. Here he discovered Abstract Expressionism, with its gestural brushstrokes and thick layers of spatula-applied paint, and it became his new source of inspiration. Until the mid-1960s, Çoker further enriched this approach as he painted to the sound of music and reflected the rhythmic gestures of calligraphy in his works.

“Oriental Enframing”, produced in 1969, was Çoker’s first exploration of the structural features of Islamic architecture, after which he developed an original synthesis where he abstracted such forms as domes, Turkish triangles, and minarets. Although the dominant color in his compositions is black, his paintings also radiate purple, pink, and mauve light. The paintings synthesize Western minimalism and Eastern purification and simplicity. “Retrospective II” is exemplary of this approach.