Mujdat Bayburtlugil

The meditative drama of Mujdat Bayburtlugil’s paintings is as familiar as it is impenetrable. The paintings behave as film stills, capturing a moment of intensity and emphasizing its nuances. The figures they depict are introspective, grappling with love, pain, and confusion, but, because of the deeply personal nature of the moments Bayburtlugil’s paints, the figures often seem distant and unreachable, lost in their own internal worlds.

Bayburtlugil’s palette choices are carefully calculated—a hint of red in an otherwise black and white image gives the paintings a surreal immediacy and the juxtaposition of sepias and pastels imbues his characteristic intensity with freshness. Compositions filling the canvas and the richness of his oil paints emphasize the singular complexity of each moment. Bayburtlugil, who studied German Language and Literature at Gazi University, has pursued art since his youth. He became more involved in painting while serving as a Turkish education delegate in Germany and he began working with Baraz Gallery in 2004. He lives and works in Bursa, Turkey.