Artists › Mehmet Babat
Born in Van in 1989, Mehmet Babat graduated in 2013 from Gazi University, Faculty of Education, Art Teacher Education Program, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in the Combined Arts Program at Gazi University Institute of Fine Arts. Babat teaches at Nevart Art and Design Academy in Ankara. Babat received an achievement award at the Traditional Gazi Painting and Sculpture Competition in 2013, an honorable mention at the 2nd Peker Art Awards in 2015, an achievement award at the 17th Şefik Bursalı Painting Competition organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2017, and an honorable mention at the 18th Şefik Bursalı Painting Competition, also organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, in 2019. Babat has held two solo exhibitions and has taken part in many group exhibitions and international workshops. Works by Babat are held in many institutional and private collections, including Kolin İnşaat, Türkiye İş Bankası, the Ankara Chamber of Industry, and Art Suites Hotel Bodrum. Mehmet Babat continues to live and work in Ankara.
My paintings are a mirror reflection of today’s living cities. Almost anywhere in the city, when we look up, it is impossible not to see a construction site. We see rising concrete blocks and tower cranes. When we look at them from a distance, the view becomes even more frightening, turning into heaps of concrete without people.
There are no human figures in my paintings, but the compositions are full of movement. Scaffolding is up, cranes are working, and metal, wood, and earth building materials are piled up. These tell the viewer that someone is there. The figure of a child flying a kite on the construction site, which I use in some of my paintings, is my critique of the spread of concrete and the plundering of green spaces.
In my paintings I use different disciplines together, incorporating screen printing alongside oil and acrylic paint. I even make the scaffolding and cranes fully three-dimensional. I use red and blue a lot. Seeing blue and red among the grays excites me.
Where people change, the things around them are undoubtedly changing too. Cities are built by people, together with space and events. The city is a formation within a given local environment that strives to adapt to that environment’s historical and geographical position and is shaped by many factors such as relations of production and consumption, means of communication, and social movements. Through painting, one of the art disciplines, I keep a record of these.
Selected solo exhibitions
Mehmet Babat Painting Exhibition – İş Sanat Izmir Gallery, December 22, 2015–January 15, 2016, Izmir (2015–2016)
Mehmet Babat Painting Exhibition – Anatolia Galeri, May 17–30, 2019, Ankara (2019)
Selected group exhibitions
Gazi University Traditional Drawing Competition Exhibition – Malik Aksel Art Gallery – Ankara (2010)
Group ceramics exhibition – Malik Aksel Art Gallery – Ankara (2011)
Screen printing exhibition – Malik Aksel Art Gallery – Ankara (2012)
3rd Söbütay Özer Prize Painting Competition Exhibition – Cer Modern Art Gallery – Ankara (2012)
2nd Mustafa Ayaz Prize Painting Competition Exhibition – Mustafa Ayaz Museum – Ankara (2013)
“Devinim” group painting exhibition – Malik Aksel Art Gallery – Ankara (2013)
Gazi University Traditional Painting and Sculpture Competition Exhibition – Malik Aksel Art Gallery – Ankara (2013)
13th Şefik Bursalı Painting Competition Exhibition – Ankara State Art and Sculpture Museum Gallery – Ankara (2013)
“Öyleyse Varız” group painting exhibition – Contemporary Arts Center – Ankara (2014)
“Atölye 103” group screen printing exhibition – Ankara (2014)
“Ayaküstü” group painting exhibition – Malik Aksel Art Gallery – Ankara (2014)
“Combined Arts Program” graduate students exhibition – Malik Aksel Art Gallery – Ankara (2014)
Traditional Peker Art Awards II Award Exhibition – Peker Art Gallery – Ankara (2015)
“Aynadan İçeri” group exhibition – Malik Aksel Art Gallery – Ankara (2015)
“Refleks” group exhibition – Esenboğa Airport Domestic Terminal – Ankara (2015)
15th “Şefik Bursalı” group exhibition – Ankara State Art and Sculpture Museum Gallery – Ankara (2015)
“40 Yaş Altı 40 Genç Sanatçı” group exhibition – Ahmed Adnan Saygun Arts Center – Izmir (2015)
“Sanat Şart2” group exhibition – Nazım Hikmet Cultural Center – Ankara (2015)
“2nd TÜSGAD Ankara Art Meeting” group exhibition – Contemporary Arts Center – Ankara (2015)
“Otobiyografi/Maske ve Gölge” group exhibition – Başkent University Faculty of Fine Arts and Architecture – Galeri Başkent, Faculty of Law, Block C – Ankara (2015)
“15x15 Penceresinden Anadolu” – Anadolu University Faculty of Communication, Yunus Emre Campus – April 5–9 – Eskişehir (2016)
“Young Artists Meeting” – Mustafa Ayaz Museum – April 15 (2016)
“21x21 Eserler Serisi” – Anadolu University Faculty of Communication, Yunus Emre Campus – April 5–9 – Eskişehir (2016)
“1st Contemporary Art Project Competition Exhibition” – May 17 – CerModern Art Center – Ankara (2016)
“Raftaki Gençler Exhibition” – Bilkent Sanat Sokağı by RC – Bilkent Center Mall 3/33, 06800 Ankara (2016)
“Ankara Chamber of Industry Group Painting and Engraving Exhibition” – December 6–31 – Ankara (2016)
“New Age Collection Group Painting Exhibition” – January 21–February 5 – Dedeman Istanbul, Gayrettepe (2017)
“Art Ankara 3rd Contemporary Arts Fair” – March 16–19 – ATO Congresium – Ankara (2017)
“Alternatifi Sergi” – Bursa State Fine Arts Gallery – April 4–14 – Bursa (2017)
“World Art Day Izmir Group Painting Exhibition” – Ahmed Adnan Saygun Arts Center – Izmir (2017)
“Ankara Artists Meeting Painting, Sculpture, Photography, Ceramics Group Exhibition” – Hasan Rıza Exhibition Hall – May 2017 – Ankara
Yeni Nesil Ressamlar Collective – September 9–25 – GaleriM Art Gallery – Ankara 2017
Yeni Nesil Ressamlar “Energy” group painting exhibition – September 26 – Çankaya Municipality Galeri Çankaya – Ankara 2017
Ankara Chamber of Industry “Yeni Nesil Ressamlar” small works group exhibition – December 5–29 – Ankara 2017
“Serbest Bölge” group painting exhibition – Çankaya Municipality Contemporary Arts Center – January 9–16 – Ankara 2018
4th Yunus Ensari Painting Competition Exhibition – Taurus Mall Platform A Art Gallery – January 13–February 8 – Ankara 2018
“8+8=Elif / Aynaya Bak Elif Saklıdır” – Çankaya Municipality Galeri Çankaya – March 5–16 – Ankara 2018
“Portakal Çiçeği Karnavalı Artı Bir Sergi” – Korart Galeri – March 31–April 15 – Adana 2018
“3rd International World Art Day” – Ahmed Adnan Saygun Arts Center – April 6–28 – Izmir 2018
“Error 404” group exhibition – Parole Art Space Galeri – April 24–June 1, 2018
Yeni Nesil Ressamlar “Prestige” group painting exhibition – Çankaya Municipality Contemporary Arts Center – January 18–29 – Ankara 2018
Yeni Nesil Ressamlar – Arda Art Gallery – “Karekod” group painting exhibition – May 3–June 3 – Ankara 2018
“Genç Umutlar-2” group painting exhibition – Galeri Yorum – May 12–29 – Istanbul 2018
“İmge Halleri” group painting exhibition – KorArt Art Gallery – February 9–23 – Adana 2018
“Young Turks/Genç Türkler” – May 22–June 6 – Farnham/Surrey/England 2018
“Merkezden Kaçış” group painting exhibition – Galeri Çankaya – October 19–26 – Ankara (2018)
“Post Tenebres Lux” performance and group exhibition – Leartesian Art Space – May 10–17 – Bodrum/Muğla
“Güney İstasyonu” group painting/sculpture exhibition – Mersin Chamber of Commerce and Industry Art Gallery (4th floor) – April 26–May 8 – Mersin (2019)
“Spoiler” group painting/sculpture exhibition – Donkişot Art Café – May 25–June 14 (2019) – Maltepe/Istanbul
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