Komet (Gürkan Coşkun)
Known in the art world as Komet, Gürkan Coşkun (22 July 1941, Çorum – 25 September 2022, Istanbul) was a Turkish painter and poet whose paintings and prints brought together dream and reality, fantasy and lived experience. He spent most of his working life between Istanbul and Paris.
Origins in Çorum and Education
Gürkan Coşkun was born in Çorum on 22 July 1941 and completed his secondary education at Çorum Lisesi (Çorum High School). Between 1960 and 1967 he studied in the Painting Department of the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts (today Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University), in the studios of the painters Halil Dikmen and Zeki Faik İzer. He is said to have taken his stage name, “Komet,” from the 1950s music group Bill Haley & His Comets.
In 1971 he moved to Paris on a government scholarship and continued his studies in the plastic arts department of Paris VIII (Vincennes) University, in the studio of Gustave Singier. From then on he worked in both Paris and Istanbul.
Art and Exhibitions
Komet held his first solo exhibition in 1974 in Rouen, France, and over the course of his career held close to sixty exhibitions in Turkey and abroad, taking part in traditional group shows such as “Yeni Gerçekçiler” (“New Realists”), the Salon de Mai and Montrouge. His paintings combine traces of Mesopotamian, Anatolian and Greek mythology with themes of love, death and mystery, rendered through dreamlike figures; critics have described him as an artist who, over time, developed a distinctive style of “dream-world” painting. His works are held in private and public collections in Istanbul, Ankara and Paris, as well as in Vienna, Lausanne and Copenhagen, including the Cantonal Museum of Lausanne, the Museum of Modern Art in Vienna, the Museum of Graphic Arts in Copenhagen, the Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris, and Istanbul Modern.
Alongside painting, Komet was also known as a writer of poetry and memoir. He published the memoir Koşarak Geldim Çorabı Deldim (roughly, “I Came Running and Wore My Socks Through”) in 2004 and the poetry collection Olabilir Olabilir (“It Could Be, It Could Be”) in 2007, followed by further poetry collections in later years.
Death
Komet died in Istanbul on 25 September 2022, of cancer, at the age of 81. Following a memorial gathering at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University on 28 September, he was buried at Aşiyan Cemetery after funeral prayers at Bebek Mosque.
For other artists and thinkers from Çorum, see the History and People topic page.
Sources
- Turkish Wikipedia — Komet
- Wikipedia — Gürkan Coşkun
- KÜLTÜR.İSTANBUL — Şair ruhlu bir ressam: Komet (in Turkish)
- NTV — Komet ismiyle bilinen ressam ve şair Gürkan Coşkun hayatını kaybetti (in Turkish)
- Diken — Ressam Komet hayatını kaybetti (in Turkish)
- Sözcü — Ressam Komet hayatını kaybetti (in Turkish)
- Cumhuriyet — Hayatını kaybeden ünlü ressam Komet kimdir, kaç yaşında? (in Turkish)
Frequently asked questions
Who was Komet?
Known in the art world as Komet, Gürkan Coşkun (22 July 1941, Çorum – 25 September 2022, Istanbul) was a Turkish painter and poet whose paintings and prints combined dream imagery with reality. He studied at the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts from 1960 to 1967 and, from 1971 onward, in Paris, dividing his working life between Istanbul and Paris.
Where does the name 'Komet' come from?
Gürkan Coşkun took the stage name 'Komet' (comet), inspired by the 1950s music group Bill Haley & His Comets.
What was Komet's connection to Çorum?
Komet was born in Çorum on 22 July 1941 and completed his secondary education at Çorum Lisesi (Çorum High School).