ISTANBUL TURKUAZ

DEVRİM ERBİL × ÖZİPEK

Turquoise Istanbul (İstanbul Turkuaz)

Turquoise Istanbul is Istanbul seen through breath rather than fire.

Where Red Istanbul speaks of intensity and pulse, this work reveals the city’s quieter, more contemplative soul. Devrim Erbil renders Istanbul in layered blues and turquoises — colors that carry water, sky, distance, and memory. The city unfolds from above once again, but here it feels suspended, as if floating between sea and air.

Erbil’s unmistakable linear language remains central. Countless fine lines construct the urban fabric, dissolving buildings, domes, and streets into a single rhythmic field. Architecture becomes vibration; geography becomes flow. On the right edge, a dense formation of birds rises like a living boundary, symbolizing freedom, continuity, and the city’s eternal dialogue with movement.

This composition reflects one of Erbil’s most poetic approaches to Istanbul: a city not defined by weight, but by rhythm. The turquoise palette softens the density of the metropolis, transforming it into a meditative landscape where structure and fluidity coexist.

Through Özipek’s exceptional craftsmanship, this complex visual language is translated into silk with remarkable sensitivity. The weave preserves the delicacy of Erbil’s line work while introducing a new dimension of depth and tactility. As light moves across the surface, blues shift from cool clarity to deep resonance, allowing the city to appear and recede like a tide.

Turquoise Istanbul stands as a rare synthesis of modern Turkish painting and classical weaving tradition. Created under the historic collaboration between Devrim Erbil and Özipek, it occupies a singular place between fine art and cultural legacy.

This is not a panoramic view meant to be observed from afar.
It is an atmosphere meant to be lived with.

An artwork for collectors who understand Istanbul not only as a city of history and fire, but also as one of water, breath, and endless continuity.