ISTANBUL SULEYMANIYE

Istanbul Süleymaniye

Istanbul Süleymaniye stands as one of Devrim Erbil’s most reverent and intellectually layered interpretations of the city. This work is not merely a depiction of Süleymaniye Mosque — it is a visual meditation on spiritual gravity, architectural order, and Istanbul’s eternal equilibrium between earth and sky.

At the heart of the composition, the monumental geometry of Süleymaniye rises with quiet authority. Erbil does not render the mosque as a single object, but as a living system of circles, domes, lines, and spatial rhythms. The architectural forms dissolve into a network of marks, suggesting that Süleymaniye is not only a structure of stone, but a center of cultural, historical, and metaphysical convergence.

Soft blues and pale stone tones dominate the upper field, evoking sky and distance, while warmer ochres, reds, and earthy hues ground the city below. Circular motifs echo domes, celestial bodies, and sacred order, reinforcing Erbil’s lifelong fascination with the harmony between geometry and spirituality. The city unfolds beneath the mosque like a woven manuscript — layered, complex, endlessly alive.

This work reflects Erbil’s deep respect for Mimar Sinan’s genius. Süleymaniye is treated not as a monument frozen in time, but as a pulse within Istanbul’s continuous motion. Lines accumulate, intersect, and disperse, mirroring the way history, faith, and daily life coexist around the mosque.

Özipek’s contribution transforms this vision into a textile of extraordinary subtlety. The translation of such intricate architectural abstraction into silk requires absolute mastery. Each dome, line, and tonal transition is preserved with precision, allowing the surface to shimmer and shift as light moves across it. The weaving does not merely reproduce the image — it deepens it.

Istanbul Süleymaniye is a cornerstone piece for serious collectors. It represents a meeting point of two disciplines at their highest level: Devrim Erbil’s intellectual abstraction and Özipek’s generational mastery of silk weaving.

This is not an image of a mosque.
It is the soul of a city, structured in silence and woven into permanence.