Emre Karaoğlu

 Colorful Portraits of Modern-Day Street Life

 

 In the alienation stories of today's metropolises, cities influence the artist, allowing him to effortlessly create abstracts from society while in search of new realities. For this reason, two important concepts, culture, and texture are infused within his paintings. The artist, who meticulously focuses on silhouettes, and the changing states of emotions and expressions, is both an observer and archivist of modern-day culture.

 

 In his daily life, Karaoğlu is always accompanied by his sketchbook.  He can be seen sketching in the streets, corners, and cafes as well as on the ferryboats and buses.  From his sketches, he is able to capture the life of buskers on the street, musicians in smoky back alley clubs, bustling tea gardens, and quiet moments of pensive retreat. These sketches are then transformed into paintings of poetic representations interpreted by the artist’s altruistic view.  In this way, Karaoğlu records the present condition of life in the city by extracting and selecting powerful images that speak to him and the human condition. 

 

 When looking closely, one can see his paintings and sketches are composed of vibrant, rhythmic movements, with a color scale that is balanced in both excitement and curiosity. This harmonious and exuberant rhythm of the image, with its layered internality, is perhaps that which first attracts our attention. It is from this first glance that we are drawn into the inner world of the observer and are able to reflect and feel the tender emotions that connect us all.