ARTISTS / ADNAN ÇOKER

ADNAN ÇOKER

He was born in 1927 in Istanbul. In 1951, he received his bachelor’s degree from Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts (Mimar Sinan University), Department of Painting, Zeki Kocamemi Studio. He passed the European exam in 1955 and went to Paris with a state scholarship. He continued his studies in André Lhote’s Studio between 1956-57 and Henri Goetz’s Studio between 1957-60. In 1960, he joined the faculty of the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts, and in 1963 he founded ‘Blue Group’ with Altan Gürman, Sarkis, Devrim Erbil, and T. Tura. He went to Paris for the second time in 1964 with a French state scholarship. He started with ‘Black Background Paintings’, while continuing etching etudes in W. Hayter Studio and painting etudes in Goetz Studio. In 1965, he went to Austria with the scholarship of Salzburg Summer Academy and worked in the studio of Emilio Vedova. In 1966, he was appointed as a lecturer to the Department of Painting at the State Academy of Fine Arts. Then, in 1969, he became an associate professor and in 1969 he became a professor. From 1977 to 1979, he worked as the director of Istanbul Museum of Painting and Sculpture. Between 1983-85, he served as the Head of the Department of Painting at the Mimar Sinan University, Faculty of Fine Arts. In 1993 and 1994, he produced original printmaking at Çamlıca Art House. He rejected the Sedat Simavi Foundation Visual Arts Award in 1994. Çoker, who has produced original printmaking in the Istanbul Museum of Graphic Arts in 2014, continued his art works at his own studio in İstanbul. Çoker passed away in 2022.