CEM GÖNÜL'S SOLO EXHIBITION "LOVE IS ALL AROUND"
AT SEVİL DOLMACI ISTANBUL
Interpreting love not as a feeling but as a way of being, Cem Gönül’s exhibition Love is All Around will be on view at Sevil Dolmacı Istanbul’s historic venue, Villa İpranosyan, from August 14 to September 10. In this poetic world woven with color, figure, and geometric forms, Gönül presents an introspective emotional map, rendering a different face of love visible on each canvas through an intuitive narrative.
Sevil Dolmacı Istanbul is hosting contemporary artist Cem Gönül’s new solo exhibition Love is All Around at Villa İpranosyan between August 14 and September 10. The exhibition invites viewers into a multi-layered world that appeals not only to the eye but also to the heart and mind. In this realm where color, figure, and geometric forms intertwine, the artist opens a poetic path to explore how love, hope, and imagination take shape in his work.
In Gönül’s works, created with emotional depth and visual subtlety, the color palette is not merely an aesthetic choice; it serves as a map where emotions become visible. Each canvas, with tones oscillating between intuition and reason, transforms into a narrative that resonates within the viewer’s inner world. The artist’s relationship with color appears at once as an unplanned outpouring and as a carefully calculated sense of balance.
The figures in Gönül’s paintings are not merely visual characters; they are living, thinking, and feeling beings from the artist’s mental universe. Each carries its own story while also embodying a symbolic form that reflects a different face of love. Moving between the personal and the universal, these figures invite viewers into an intimate emotional space. The artist’s connection with them becomes almost meditative he lives with them, speaks to them, and recreates them. Every canvas is a meeting, and every meeting gives birth to a new meaning.
In Gönül’s works, geometric forms do more than establish order and rhythm; they transcend the emotional dimension of love to point toward its intellectual and structural nature. Created with techniques developed by the artist himself, these simple shapes come together in cosmic harmony, guiding the viewer toward a sense of equilibrium. This visual rhythm and quiet structure create a strong yet measured harmony that permeates the exhibition.
In Love is All Around, Gönül offers viewers the opportunity to witness the many states of love, inviting them to trace its presence somewhere between reality and imagination.
About Cem Gönül:
Cem Gönül (b. 1993, Istanbul) graduated from Haliç University’s Industrial Product Design Department in 2017. During his studies, he worked in various fashion and design-oriented jobs, developing his interest in art, objects, colors, and form at an early age. After university, he worked for three years as the personal assistant to Haluk Akakçe, one of the pioneers of contemporary art. This period played a significant role in shaping his artistic vision and transforming his approach to visual language.
Gönül’s practice revolves around figures, colors, and geometric structures. The close relationship he builds with countless figures in his daily production lends a surreal and emotional rhythm to his works. These figures, carrying an air of innocence, emerge from the artist’s imagination, each with its own story. Over time, these stories find their way toward the walls and spaces they belong to. Merging with cosmic and structural geometric forms, the figures invite viewers to explore the fine line between reality and imagination.
Colors play an important role in Gönül's work; she meticulously selects hues for different parts of each painting, experimenting and blending them to enhance the visual richness. This care gives her works a lively and attractive expression.
