Burhan Uygur, 1940-1992

Between 1961 and 1969, Burhan Uygur studied painting under Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu at the State Academy of Fine Arts. In 1970 he attended the Salzburg Summer Academy, where he worked with Corneille from the COBRA-group and held street exhibitions. From the time he returned to Turkey in the 1970s to his death in the early 1990s he was one of the artists to make his mark on Turkish art.

In Burhan Uygur’s paintings, one can find traces of the bohemian lifestyle he maintained throughout his life and the lyrical approach he developed. To his friends, Uygur was a person of exceptional vitality. In his works he depicted people from his immediate circle, always with subtle sensitivity, and over time the stains he painted using light brush strokes turned into symbolic elements. As the figures in Uygur’s paintings moved through the artist’s inner universe and changed form, they came to life not just on canvas but on diverse objects as well. The titles of his paintings and exhibitions have always evoked poetic flavors. Through his paintings he saluted the verses of the poets he loved. He lived life to the fullest, painted what he experienced and sought to experience what he painted.

On all the bends and folds of the surfaces he worked on, whether on this century-old door, on canvas or other materials, Uygur took account of his physical and his spiritual life, from the very beginning. Carrying both the lightest and heaviest burdens of the past, he journeyed to the very depths of his heart to create his own tale by depicting everything that entered his life.