HALİL PETÜK

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Halil Petük (b. 1994, Kocaeli) completed his undergraduate studies at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Sakarya University and received his Master’s degree in Painting from the Institute of Social Sciences at the same university in 2016. In Petük’s artistic practice, nature holds a central place as a fundamental element of living existence. While constructing landscapes alongside roles associated with human life, Petük approaches all figures with equal distance, despite the inherent hierarchies within nature. Just as in nature, the strong and the fragile coexist in life. Drawing from personal memories, his figurative compositions explore memory through ambiguity and blur, creating a tension that hovers between life and death. Nature is not only an aesthetic presence but also a realm of being that gives meaning to life between birth and death. Traces of life in Petük’s paintings are shaped through contrasts of black and white, horizontal and vertical. The tree, mountain, and human figures—at times fading and becoming abstract—reveal his interpretation of life as a state of uncertainty.

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Some of his selected exhibitions and projects are: “Unexpected Territories” Istanbul Tüyap Art Fair, İstanbul (2016), “Experience” İstanbul Tüyap Art Fair, Istanbul (2018), “Winter Tales” Concept Gallery (İstanbul (2018), “Büyükada Artist Initiative” 16th Istanbul Biennial Parallel Event, Büyükada (2019), Ağaçların Kokusu- L’Odeur Des Arbres” Moda Sahnesi, İstanbul (2019), “Transation” Sheare Bremen, Germany (2019), “Kosmogonia” Gama Gallery, İstanbul (2019), “Being From” Import/Export Fair Nürnberg, Germany (2019), “Değişim” Rh+ Gallery, İstanbul (2019), “Çıkışı Aramak / Looking for The Exit” İstanbul Medeniyet University, İstanbul (2021), “Young Fresh Different XII” Zilberman Gallery, İstanbul (2023), “Cycle” Kulanshi Art Space, Kazakhstan (2024), “Cross Roads” Art On, İstanbul (2024), “Cycle”  Kastayev National Art Museum, Kazakhstan (2024). He lives and works in Istanbul.