The Painter Using Social Rituals to Make the Individual Face Himself: Sefa Çatuk
Sefa Çatuk’s art addresses the individual enslaved by those obligations he did not choose, and meanings produced through the social rituals taking place around him. These obligations originate from the cultural and ethical codes of the society he finds himself in starting from the moment of his birth. As he accepts these codes without questioning them and avoids the price of isolation and punishment that comes with freedom, he imprisons himself within the networks of belongingness lying at the basis of the chronic conflicts that have been haunting societies for several generations. Minute differences between local amalgams of myths, traditions and belief systems can become sources of hostility, and as one of the phenomena that disturbs Çatuk the most, this compels him to step into a multidimensional process of questioning that also involves the artist’s own internal dilemmas.
Triggered by this impulse, Çatuk’s aesthetic and stylistic preferences give rise to an authentic and subjective allegorical universe where the artist uses the canvas to reinterpret with a contemporary and satirical perspective the art historical systems of iconography in humanity’s collective consciousness; although this universe openly pays tribute to main art historical traditions, its one and only rule maker or god is the artist himself. With their common deformity turning them into the ordinary and characterless members of a closed society, portraits with no clear age or gender all carry the same dull, tense and judgmental expression. They appear as if their actions, including gossiping, lack consciousness and take place automatically. Their depiction within a suffocating, crowded composition, always with the same color palette and behind a yellowish filter, adds to the impression that they are part of a consolidated social structure in favor of homogenization. This palette has no room for sharp contrasts reminiscent of revolution, innovation or difference of opinion; all shades and colors are close relatives and almost disturbingly harmonious. Even more interestingly, the ones that sustain this constraining order are the very figures imprisoned in it. The system’s sanction power based on reward and punishment that they take for granted survives thanks to their compliance and a more royalist attitude than the king’s. Social pressure thus evolves into a self-fulfilling prophecy, a vicious cycle thanks to the loyalty of those individuals expected to abandon it but that gradually become its schizophrenic admirers instead. This way the individual goes even farther from realizing that he is the one sustaining the sources of his own dissatisfaction. While trying to find our way within the scenery where this cycle becomes visible, the hands that enter the composition from unexpected places and the gaze of some figures seemingly looking directly at the artist, remind us of the presence of Çatuk’s creator-god position.
In Çatuk’s oeuvre, another allegorical universe as important as the figure is the table. Rituals taking place around the table render visible the interfamilial and social hierarchical structures as well as the defining nuances of cultural identities. The order and the content of the depicted table provide valuable information on the nature of the ritual implied to be taking place soon. Offerings to gods, milestone celebrations and collective prayers around tables guarantee that the power of the systems of belongingness keeping the individual under control is felt at every moment of daily life. Here Çatuk makes the viewer sense the implicit presence of the figures expressing their commitment to the system. In these still life compositions where the artist uses a more vivid and rich color palette, the figures appear to have set the table as an offering to their creator-god and then withdrew. However, now the artist as the creator-god is among the figures of his creation as well, joining them outside the frame and looking at the composition from the same angle as theirs. Here we understand that he is aware of his membership of the very society he heavily criticizes, and that he occasionally surrenders to a similar act of compliance. This honest and sincere attitude is the most crucial aspect of Çatuk’s paintings.
İpek Yeğinsü, December 2018
Sefa Çatuk’s art addresses the individual enslaved by those obligations he did not choose, and meanings produced through the social rituals taking place around him. These obligations originate from the cultural and ethical codes of the society he finds himself in starting from the moment of his birth. As he accepts these codes without questioning them and avoids the price of isolation and punishment that comes with freedom, he imprisons himself within the networks of belongingness lying at the basis of the chronic conflicts that have been haunting societies for several generations. Minute differences between local amalgams of myths, traditions and belief systems can become sources of hostility, and as one of the phenomena that disturbs Çatuk the most, this compels him to step into a multidimensional process of questioning that also involves the artist’s own internal dilemmas.
Triggered by this impulse, Çatuk’s aesthetic and stylistic preferences give rise to an authentic and subjective allegorical universe where the artist uses the canvas to reinterpret with a contemporary and satirical perspective the art historical systems of iconography in humanity’s collective consciousness; although this universe openly pays tribute to main art historical traditions, its one and only rule maker or god is the artist himself. With their common deformity turning them into the ordinary and characterless members of a closed society, portraits with no clear age or gender all carry the same dull, tense and judgmental expression. They appear as if their actions, including gossiping, lack consciousness and take place automatically. Their depiction within a suffocating, crowded composition, always with the same color palette and behind a yellowish filter, adds to the impression that they are part of a consolidated social structure in favor of homogenization. This palette has no room for sharp contrasts reminiscent of revolution, innovation or difference of opinion; all shades and colors are close relatives and almost disturbingly harmonious. Even more interestingly, the ones that sustain this constraining order are the very figures imprisoned in it. The system’s sanction power based on reward and punishment that they take for granted survives thanks to their compliance and a more royalist attitude than the king’s. Social pressure thus evolves into a self-fulfilling prophecy, a vicious cycle thanks to the loyalty of those individuals expected to abandon it but that gradually become its schizophrenic admirers instead. This way the individual goes even farther from realizing that he is the one sustaining the sources of his own dissatisfaction. While trying to find our way within the scenery where this cycle becomes visible, the hands that enter the composition from unexpected places and the gaze of some figures seemingly looking directly at the artist, remind us of the presence of Çatuk’s creator-god position.
In Çatuk’s oeuvre, another allegorical universe as important as the figure is the table. Rituals taking place around the table render visible the interfamilial and social hierarchical structures as well as the defining nuances of cultural identities. The order and the content of the depicted table provide valuable information on the nature of the ritual implied to be taking place soon. Offerings to gods, milestone celebrations and collective prayers around tables guarantee that the power of the systems of belongingness keeping the individual under control is felt at every moment of daily life. Here Çatuk makes the viewer sense the implicit presence of the figures expressing their commitment to the system. In these still life compositions where the artist uses a more vivid and rich color palette, the figures appear to have set the table as an offering to their creator-god and then withdrew. However, now the artist as the creator-god is among the figures of his creation as well, joining them outside the frame and looking at the composition from the same angle as theirs. Here we understand that he is aware of his membership of the very society he heavily criticizes, and that he occasionally surrenders to a similar act of compliance. This honest and sincere attitude is the most crucial aspect of Çatuk’s paintings.
İpek Yeğinsü, December 2018