Eren Kenar is a young artist who, through his artwork, aims to express his emotions and ideas. His paintings are peculiar, Eren creates images, portraits and landscapes that seem to have emerged from a dream. This art is born from his anger, an emotion he exclusively experiences while painting.
PRESENTATION
-Tell us a bit about yourself: who are you? Where are you from? How old are you?
Hello, I’m Eren, a 25 year old painter living in Istanbul, Turkey.
-What do you do for a living?
It’s a bit complicated. I just graduated, and I earn money from my paintings, occasionally take illustration gigs, and I’ve done some teaching as well.
INTERESTS
-Do you like music? Do you have a favorite singer or band? What’s your favorite song?
It would be hard to name an all-time favourite, but the group I’ve listened to the most this year is probably the Turkish rock band Vega. Other than that, Deftones, Aphex Twin, Iosonouncane, and Fontaines DC were bands I listened to a lot throughout last year.
-A movie that everyone should watch?
I don’t have very niche taste in cinema. I recently watched “Possessor”, a movie by Brandon Cronenberg. Some of the themes there both visual and narrative really resonated with me while I was watching it.
-If you had to identify with a book, which one would it be?
I haven’t been reading much fiction lately, so I’ll say John Berger’s “Ways of Seei…” just kidding. I have a very on-and-off relationship with reading, but Erlend Loe and Mikhail Bulgakov are writers I’ve quite enjoyed.
-Which art form do you enjoy the most: photography, painting, sculpture, performance, etc.?
Painting, first and foremost. Fashion photography interests me, but I don’t have an incredible eye for it, there are some artists I follow in that field. Other than that, I really love flipping through fashion magazines and looking at the photographs in them.
-Is there a contemporary author you consider to be the best, or who serves as a source of inspiration?
There isn’t really someone I’ve connected with like that recently, but back when I first started painting, Mine Söğüt’s writing and her world of imagery used to move me into action.
-Is there a certain moment of the day you prefer?
When I drink my first coffee of the day, I always feel inexplicably full of hope and joy. And also just before going to sleep in terms of forming imagery for my paintings.
WORK
-Where does your love for art come from?
I don’t think it comes from a single source. It’s actually quite intricate, it’s more like something a person finds themselves inside of.
-An emotion you feel while working?
Mostly anger, because I don’t get to experience it well enough in daily life. It comes out when I sit down to paint.
-What did you feel was necessary in your art: to do something different, or to go further? Did you have a clear idea of what you wanted to do?
I don’t have an obsession with being the most innovative. What I’m more concerned about is evoking the emotions and the mind through imagery.
-Before you start working, do you already have a clear idea of what your job will be like? Or is it when you start working that you have an idea of what you’re going to do?
Each painting requires something different in this regard. More precisely, it takes shape according to my needs at that particular period.
Sometimes I feel the need to produce something very planned and designed. Other times I want to paint completely non-narrative colour fields that are in dialogue with each other.
-What role do the titles of the works play for you? And when do you assign them? Do titles usually come before or after you’ve finished your work?
Until recently, I actually hated titles. Because I thought that guiding images through language does little beyond narrowing their meaning. But lately I’ve started seeing the title as a space for play as well.
Sometimes I give a title while making the painting, but most often I do it after the work is finished.
-What is the meaning of these titles?
For instance, with the painting “Müze” (Museum), I had started from a dream. I depicted a love story experienced in a museum using the imagery from a dream.
“Smoking Bluffer” describes both the character in the painting and the name of a song I used to listen to.
-When do you feel like the work is done?
I keep going until any exhibition deadline arrives, or I stop when I get bored. Generally, a piece isn’t finished for me until it has been exhibited. Unless I set aside the fact that it evolves after the viewer encounters it too.
-Do you happen to stop while you’re working, because you don’t have the type of piece or material you need at home, and have to wait until you find it?
I’m a bit impatient about that — if I feel like I’m going to run out of materials halfway through, I buy them in advance and start that way. I really don’t enjoy having my working process disrupted because of materials.
-Which work do you think works better than the others?
The painting that has felt most like me recently is “Smoking Bluffer”. My answer to this question might change next week. I’m pretty inconsistent about this topic.
-What do your works come from? From an idea, a feeling or something else?
Very rarely I do start from a purely intellectual or narrative place. It generally emerges as a mixture of the three: feeling, image, and idea.
-You attended the Academy of Fine Arts; how would you describe this journey, how did you find yourself? We imagine that this path has left you with something, the work tools you use or the particular influences.
If I had the chance again, I would study the same department but I don’t think it is necessary in building an artistic identity or learning to paint.
Someone who wants to learn can access knowledge in any way these days; and someone who doesn’t want to learn, even if you made them Raphael’s apprentice, probably they wouldn’t benefit much.
-What work of yours has been most appreciated so far? And which one do you prefer?
I received very lovely feedbacks at my first solo exhibition, which I held recently. But nothing particular actually.
INTERACTION WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD
-Social media is now an indispensable platform for publishing your work and being known; how do you experience this dimension, and above all, how important do you consider it for what you do?
I both hate it and love it at the same time. I also think it’s genuinely, seriously important. I’ve met many artists through social media. At the same time, being able to see what artists from different parts of the world are doing is both a curse and blessing.
-You’ve been to Milan, how has this city affected you? Does the place where you live or work have an influence on you and your artworks?
First of all, it’s been a period of my life I’ll never forget in every sense. I would say the classics of course; museums, architecture etc.
However, having a limited time in a city feels like you’re in a sandbox and you can do whatever you want. Also the feeling of starting from zero in social life was pretty enlightening.
-What are your next goals and projects?
To participate in more exhibitions in Italy again. And in the longer term, a solo show in Milan.
-What are the projects you haven’t been able to finish yet?
Ones that I’m having a hard time keeping up with are thematic long term projects.
-What does it mean to you to be an artist today?
There are many answers to this for me, but the one I want to give today is: someone who takes emotions out of the level of everyday consciousness and uses them as material.
-Finally, could you point us to three young artists you respect and admire who attend/have attended the Brera Academy?
Chen Haojun and Collettivo Piano (an artist duo: Francesco and Alvi) are ones I quite like.
We appreciate Eren’s responses, please follow him on Instagram for further updates.
Discover other emerging artists in our magazine Venticento Art Magazine.