Ergin İnan

Ergin İnan (1943- )

The unique world presented by Ergin İnan by taking detail as his starting point gradually turns into a visual feast. In the end it becomes vivacious and colourful – just like the paints mingling with each other in his left hand. We can sense an adventure here, which the artist turns into a painting. Everything has silently been turned almost upside down. Maybe we can’t fool around with time; but now is somehow always earlier than yesterday.

For İnan, painting themes from life has a meaning beyond his dialogue with the exterior appearance of the world. That is because mimesis is the progress of what is experienced. So, the chain of coincidences turning the end-to-beginning structure of art in the opposite direction and identifying it with the flow of life is the basic principle behind painting. The comfort of adopting intuition and ecstasy as a guide has spontaneously become the guarantee of sincerity in this production pattern.

Painting has no message, it rather questions what has happened; for İnan it has the same meaning as “drawing the love that exists in one’s heart.” Seeing and being seen, looking and being looked at etc. are all two-way processes. Even the subjects of our actions are open to discussion.

İnan seeks an answer to the question “Am I who I am?” rather than “What or who am I?.” This dilemma transformed him into a lover of the earth trying to embrace all creatures as a whole. All creatures, mainly human beings but including a wide range, from snails to scarabs and even caterpillars and earthworms receive a share of this cake of love. What remains for the viewer is just to share that enthusiasm.