Painter Mehmet Tunalı remembered in retrospective Istanbul exhibition

Ten years after his death, Turkish painter Mehmet Tunalı is being remembered with a retrospective exhibition at Studio Çukurcuma in Istanbul’s Beyoğlu district.

“Mehmet Tunalı in Retrospective,” curated by his son Tan Tunalı and friend Mustafa Şener, offers an overview of the life and work of the self-made artist. His paintings’ inspiring colors display his love for life, which triumphed despite the often difficult circumstances in which he found himself.

The exhibition can be seen until Dec. 13.

As a conscientious objector to military service, Tunalı was forced to leave Turkey after the 1980 military coup and ended up in Amsterdam, where he lived without official papers for a decade. He was only able to return to his home country in 1990, after obtaining Dutch citizenship.

A born traveler, Tunalı started discovering and painting Turkey in the years after his return, particularly his beloved southern shores, where he spent a lot of time.

While his artistic development was still ongoing in every respect, he also created a number of paintings of his new home Amsterdam, which can also be viewed in Studio Çukurcuma.

For more information, visit http://mehmettunali.com/