ARTISTS / EROL DENEÇ

EROL DENEÇ

He was born in Istanbul Kadırga in 1941. After studying at Kadırga Primary School and Gedikpaşa Secondary School, he attended the Printing Vocational School. During this period, he became interested in music and learned to play the violin and oud. After completing his high school education, he enrolled in Applied Fine Arts Painting School. In 1962, he worked with Anton Lehmden, the pioneer of fantastic art, at Applied Fine Arts. He became the first Turkish representative of the fantastic style. In 1964, with the invitation of the painter Ernst Fuchs, one of the founders of the Vienna School of Fantastic Painting, he settled in Vienna and opened his first exhibition. His art works were repeatedly awarded the Meister Prize by the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts between 1965 and 1969. A documentary film was made about him in 1971. The film was screened in many important centers, especially the Vienna 20th Century Museum of Modern Art. A second documentary film about him was shot by Wolfgang Lezowsky in 1982 and was shown on major European TV channels. Erol Denec got married in Vienna in 1973 and had 5 children. Living with his family on the foothills of the Alps, the artist continues to work on Turkish music with the violin and oud, while also interested in Indian music and sitar. He returned to Turkey in 1989 and worked as an art teacher between 1991-1995. He founded the IFAR (Istanbul Fantastic Reality) group with his students at the Istanbul University Cultural Center. Erol Deneç has also received offers from people around the world for his contributions to fantastic art. The best example of these is the suggestion of Erich Peischl, director of the Vienna Fantastic Museum. He refers to Deneç as "the worldwide pioneer of this ecole." He has opened more than 150 exhibitions since 1963. He worked on printmaking at IMOGA in 2005. In addition to the Albertina and Belveder museums in Vienna, his art works are in the Vienna City Collection and some private collections in Germany, Austria, France, Italy and Turkey. Erol Deneç is the first Turkish representative of the Fantastic Realist style worldwide.