MEET EMRE KARAOGLU ⭐️ Canvas Rebel Magazine Artist Interview
- Emre Karaoğlu
- 5 Eyl
- 5 dakikada okunur
Güncelleme tarihi: 7 Eyl
I am so happy that my Interview just published in CanvasRebel Magazine
We were lucky to catch up with Emre Karaoglu recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Emre thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
My journey started in Turkiye. I was born and raised in Istanbul, one of the world’s largest and most cosmopolitan cities in the world. Istanbul is incredibly beautiful, dynamic, and vibrant. I can say I learned a lot from Istanbul. Human relationships, cultural diversity, and the constant hustle and bustle of life…
I grew up in a home severely damaged by the economic crisis that Turkiye experienced during my childhood. I was the first child of a working-class father, a car mechanic, and a housewife. I learned how to work hard from my family and am proud to be the first member of my family to graduate from University with an academic scholarship. It was a long road. For a low-income family, receiving an art education from an early age in Türkiye was impossible.
I consider myself very fortunate and extremely lucky. If it were not for two turning points in my life, I would not be where I am today in my art career. My first turning point with art came in 2002, when I was 10 years old, thanks to my elementary school art teacher, Fadime Yücel. Out of the goodness of her heart, she began offering free 3-hour private art classes, three times a week, to a small group of select students. Without her, I wouldn’t have known where to begin. From that time on, portrait, line, form, and color became my primary means of self-expression. I knew even at that young age that art would always be with me.
As a teen, I worked nights in bars and cafes to help my family get by. It was there, in the smoky, dimly lit backdrop of Istanbul nightlife life that I had the opportunity to observe the people that make up the multicultural and economically diverse melting pot of Istanbul. My sketchbooks filled up quickly with portraits and figures using pencil, charcoal, and the occasional brush dipped in wine. Why sketch? These sketches allowed me to record the emotions, lines, and tensions that I saw and felt in my surroundings in real time. My sketches then became references I used to create larger oil paintings meant to express my observations of the human experience. My hope is that people will find a connection with humanity in a similar or different way than I. The type of connection is not important; it is the stirring of emotions within others that moves me.
My second turning point came in 2009 while living in Tarlabaşı, Istanbul, a neighborhood that just so happened to be five blocks away from my future art mentor’s art studio and gallery. One day, just like any other, I decided to stop by his gallery while walking to the bars of İstiklal Street. It was on this day that I met Resul Aytemür, a renowned figurative artist who became my art mentor, friend, and father figure. After our first meeting, he opened his studio to me so that I could practice my art and become a member of the artist community. He taught me about color theory, the technique of oil painting, the power of critique, and the artist’s process. Additionally, he showed my art in his gallery and connected me with other prominent artists and art professors such as Kemal İskender, Nedret Şekban, Hüsnü Koldaş, Ahmet Umur Deniz, Mustafa Ozel, Kader Genç, and Evren Sungur.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Emre Karaoğlu. I am an observer and an archivist of modern-day culture. A contemporary, figurative artist and teacher from Istanbul, Türkiye, now based in New Orleans. I use oil, pastel & charcoal portraits to capture the profound layers of human experience within everyday life. My oil paintings have expressive brush marks, thick paint layers, and vibrant colors, all meant to connect the viewer to the work. I aim to infuse my paintings with emotion, feeling, and culture as a way to express the changing states of the human experience.
I currently teach at the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts, one of New Orleans’s leading art institutes. I host weekly life model drawing sessions in my art studio, as well as at the Academy. I am a member of two art collectives: Contemporary Figurative Artists in New Orleans and Second Story Gallery, and am Vice-President of the non-profit New Orleans Photo Alliance.
I have participated in over 60 national and international exhibitions at museums, art galleries, and universities in the United States, Türkiye, and the United Kingdom. I was honored to show one of my portraits at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition in London in 2024. Additionally, my art was selected for the New Orleans Art Association National Show in 2023 and 2024, winning the Merit Award in 2024. Lastly, I am proud to have my art as a part of the permanent art collection of the City of New Orleans.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
In 2021, I decided to start a new adventure, a new culture and reach a new audience by moving to New Orleans, Louisiana. It was a risk to leave my homeland and move to a country I had never visited before, especially to try to establish myself as an artist. They say starting from scratch is never easy. This adage proved to be true. Finding a place to live, learning how to sell my art, and supporting my family at the same time was difficult. However, due to the financial struggles my family and I dealt with in my childhood, I gained a strong work ethic. This work ethic has stayed with me and fuels me to continue moving forward, not afraid to work from the ground up.
When I arrived in New Orleans, I immediately researched and began visiting art galleries and artist collectives every month. This process helped me connect with artists, curators, and gallery owners. When I visited galleries and was asked what kind of art I did, I was ready with my artist book and portfolio. Being proactive in visiting art openings and being prepared to clearly explain my artistic process helped me quickly enter into the New Orleans art scene.
Another tactic I used to get myself in the art community was to apply for important open calls and art exhibition opportunities all over the world. To be honest, I got rejected many times, but I didn’t give up. I had the courage and determination to find my way. I am a hustler and stubborn when it comes to my art, my passion and my purpose in life. I owe much of my success to this stubbornness.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
My goal as an artist is to grow beyond physical borders and establish myself on the international art stage. I aspire to share my work with audiences across cultures, exhibiting in galleries and art spaces around the world. By doing so, I hope to create conversations that transcend language and connect people through the universal language of portrait and figure. I aspire to contribute to the global dialogue of contemporary art both today and in generations to come.
Contact Info:
Website: https://www.emrekaraogluart.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hekaraoglu
Other: hekaraoglu@gmail.com
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