Erol Akyavaş

Erol Akyavaş (1932 - )

This artist has achieved considerable success in Western art circles, which he joined in the 1950s when still a young man. Attaching great importance to contemporary freestyle in his compositions, he puts his traditional and Eastern aesthetic into his paintings, which incline to the unknown aspect of the inner world. In the 1970s, Akyavaş adopted more of a sense of Islam and focused on the problems of identitiy and tradition in Turkish painting. Akyavaş’ paintings came to focus on light and colour over the course of time, and he is one of those rare artists who try to give a meaning to art with sacred feelings and who are able to express Islam in a modern way.

Erol Akyavaş has tried many different ways of expressing his art for more than 40 years. In his early years, he was interested in spots, calligraphic images and abstract shapes. Later, he used more figures and architectural elements. Last of all, his paintings ceased to have a representational content and moved to colour and light.