Çerçeve 1999

Adnan Coker’s ‘Çerçeve’ is all about colour and composition, creating a simple yet deeply meditative experience. The controlled palette of purples and blacks speaks to a real dedication to the craft of painting. The canvas is dominated by a velvety black field, creating a sense of depth. In the very centre, a square reveals a small composition of simple shapes, almost like a geometric puzzle. The brushwork is so smooth that it’s difficult to detect any texture at all. Instead, we are confronted with a sleek, almost digital finish that completely conceals the artist’s process. This area reminds me of a Rothko canvas, however, unlike Rothko, Coker has created a symbolic window on the canvas. Coker seems to be in a dialogue with artists across time, taking the visual language of the modernists and twisting it into his own vision. ‘Çerçeve’ embraces ambiguity and invites us to find our own path into the work.