Kuzgun Acar

Kuzgun Acar was born to Nazmi Acar of Libyan descent, and his wife Ayşe Zehra of Ethiopian origin in Istanbul, Turkey on 28 February 1928.[4] He had a poor childhood and youth. He finished high school at İstanbul Sultanahmet Ticaret Lisesi, and in 1948 joined the sculpture department of the Academy of Fine Arts, (now Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University). He was a student of Rudolf Belling (1886–1972). In his academy years, influenced by Hadi Bara (1906–1971), he leaned towards more abstract figures. In 1953, he graduated from the academy. He married Münire Abdusef in 1955. In 1965, he married Bilge Berker, who bore him a son named Yunus in 1966. He married for a third time in 1971 to Fersa Pulhan.[5]

Acar died on 4 February 1976 aged 47 from intracerebral hemorrhage, following his fall from a ladder while he was working on a wall relief. He was interred at Zincirlikuyu Cemetery.[5]

He worked with wire mesh, making sculptures reminiscent of Naum Gabo (1890–1977). He taught painting at Istanbul Atatürk High School and painting-sculpturing at the high school he finished. He displayed his sculpture works in wire at a personal exhibition in the American news Center in 1957. Between 1958 and 1960, he experimented making various forms with wire, nails, metal bars and scrap by gas welding. He performed experiments in enameling. His work, created with nails, was awarded the first prize at the Biennale de Paris in 1961. This award became a turning point for him, because he won one of the two scholarships allocated to foreigner young artists by the Paris Biennale. Acar went to Paris on the scholarship and worked there for one year. His work was displayed in the Musee d'Art in 1962. His work and his designs were acquired by the museum. Returned home, he won the first prize with his iron sculpture at the 23rd State Painting and Sculpture Exhibition in 1962. He took part at the Museum of modern art in Le Havre and Galerie Lacloche in Paris with his private exhibition in 1962 and 1963. His next exhibitions were for painting at Deutsches Kulturzentrum in Istanbul, and for sculptures in 1966 at Musée Rodin in Paris. In 1966, he created his well-known public works "Kuşlar ("The Birds") placed in Istanbul and "Türkiye" ("Turkey") in Ankara.[5][6]

In 1968, he produced masks for street theater artists. In 1975, he accompanied the Turkish theater company to Paris and created the masks for the play The Caucasian Chalk Circle. The 140 masks made of steel and rubber used in World War II are important works.[5]

After Acar joined the socialist Workers Party of Turkey in the 1960s. His works did not find buyers, so had to earn a living as a fisherman and barkeeper. He accompanied the street theater "Devrim İçin Hareket" ("Movement for Revolution"), which played at squares, strikes and protest rallies in 1968. He joined a group of foreign mountaineers to Eastern Anatolia for the shooting of a documentary movie promoted by the daily Milliyet's campaign "Boğaz'a Değil Zap Suyu'na Köprü" ("A Bridge to the River Zap, not to the Bosphorus"). In 1972, he was detained by the military regime of 1971.

Kuşlar (1967)

Acar's metal sculpture Kuşlar ("The Birds") was selected to be displayed on the front facade of the İMÇ İstanbul Manifaturacılar Çarşısı (Istanbul Manufacturers Bazaar),[5] located on Atatürk Boulevard between the Valens Aqueduct and the Unkapanı. After hanging there for some time, the sculpture was damaged due to exposure to the elements, and was taken down to be restored.[7] When it was taken down, it was noticed that the damage was much more severe than initially thought.[8] The very extensive restoration efforts led by assistant professor Özer Aktimur took three years.[9] It was on display, for the first time in a museum environment, until 23 October 2016 and then was returned to its original place at the "İMÇ" building.[10]

Masks

Acar made 140 masks for the Kafkas Tebeşir Dairesi.[11]

Some of Acar's works at public places caused controversy, and were removed and put in storage. His 1966-created large-scale metal sculpture titled "Türkiye", which stood in front of the Emek Business Center in Kızılay, Ankara and depicted the lost lands in Anatolia due to becoming arid, was removed later, put in a storage and sold later for scrapping. His 1974-created, 13 m (43 ft)-high metal relief composition made of automobile parts and scrap iron, which was placed on a wall at the social facilities of "Maden-İş Sendikası" ("Miners Union") in Gönen and depicted a worker, his family and employer, was removed after the 1980 military coup and put in storage. In 1997, as it was remembered, it was taken out from storage and was put in its original place. His 1975-created giant sculpture in the form of a hand in honor of former governor of Antalya Haşim İşcan was removed some time later and put in storage. It was then erected in Karaalioglu Park in Antalya.[5]

• Kuzgunun Kuşları