Printemps des Artistes

Art has always been part of Valerie Çelebi's life. She spent her childhood drawing and playing with colours but it is only in later years after she moved to Istanbul that she chose to devote her professional life to painting. The work she will exhibit this year at the PDA is built around ‘asphyxia’. Facing tankers sailing through the Bosphorus makes her feel oppressed and ‘’under siege’’. She thus try to display both distress and plastic appeal while striving to show the attractive qualities of the subject with simple forms and few colours. Staying away from light and shadow, she uses lighting for the sole purpose of creating contrast. In other words, light takes its place among other elements as a rational colour value only. The artist strives to render the awesomeness of these giants vehicles. While life goes on as usual, her emotions run high at the slow the passing through of these huge creatures even though she has been living in Istanbul for years and become an integral part of the city.