By Heidi Trautmann

Gazi Yüksel, born in Nicosia in 1963, as son of a watchmaker known as ‘Bizim Saatci/Our watchmaker’ worked as photojournalist for nearly twenty years.His job led him through all levels of social and political life and situations, an experience that taught him many lessons and – this is what I have come to believe – which made him a sort of philosopher. He chose to teach at the Near East University all that has to do with photography, especially applied photography. He then took up studies in Painting with great success as we can see. I had seen some of his work in many group exhibitions.

His first solo painting exhibition entitled ‘Our Walls’ opened on May 16, 2016 at the Bedesten and HE Mustafa Akinci, who had come to open the exhibition, certainly knew best the implication the title carries for us. He has written eight books on photography.

Walls.....we are surrounded by them in our daily lives, often invisible to us, and often built by us without realising. Walls in society, walls in families, in daily communication and ...in politics, and finally the still existing wall that divides the island in two halves.

Gazi Yüksel brings them all forward and gives us his interpretation. Reading the titles of his 43 paintings may give you an idea of the thoughts that led his brush, for example: Scars of life and walls; Doors turning into walls; Invisible walls; Women; Our walls and our choices; Wall of alcohol.....and so forth.

Being a highly professional photographer he knows what the main elements of a statement have to be, and he uses abstract formulas to enhance his statement, symbols such as: Keyhole, key, human profiles, symbols for peace and freedom.... The construction of the paintings are in mostly geometric shapes, positive and negative, linear and pointillistic; strong colours, posters admonishing society like a magnifying mirror, like the painting he used for the announcement of his exhibition: the human within nature, a wall in itself.

The exhibition is still on until May 27, 2016.