Servet Koçyiğit, 1971

A graduate of the Fine Arts Department of Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, Servet Koçyiğit currently works between Amsterdam and Istanbul. At different times of his life he has lived and worked in other countries, including Germany, France, Israel and Georgia.

Koçyiğit observes his places of residence both as an insider and outsider, and reflects his observations in his artistic practice by considering them jointly with local and global issues and contexts. He pulls everyday concerns, conventional functions, routine tasks, ordinary household utensils or found objects out of context and imparts them with new meanings or reconsiders them within entirely different contexts. Koçyiğit often deals with traditions, local lifestyles, cultural codes and judgments, and associated conflicts. The artist says that he is influenced by the tradition of humor in Turkey and his works are subtle and poetic.

"Tips" is an early example of Koçyiğit’s methodology of mapping. This work is a synthesis of Koçyiğit’s personal inquiry and investigations and reflect his effort to understand the world around him in socioeconomic and intellectual terms. In "Tips", he creates a geographical road map out of fabrics from Africa to India with patterns that become images.

Koçyiğit creates his mapping through association with familiar fabric patterns that are representative of each region. Rather than offering a didactic discourse, he uses a rich diversity of colors to give viewers room to make their own reading.

Photograph: André Carvalho and Tuğba Karatop - Chroma