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Story of Artists
 Asuman
and Atanur Dogan-Turkish-Canadian watercolorists and sculptors-met while
studying Fine Arts at Dokuz Eylul University in Izmir. They began their
travels together studying the Anatolian villages of Turkey and developed
an acute awareness of the countryside and its inhabitants. Their
sensitivity and appreciation for the old way of life have influenced
their art. Being an adventurous couple, they took their two-year old boy
to Canada in 1992 and established themselves as artists. They now have
dual citizenship, work in both countries and have traveled extensively
throughout North America and Europe. Discovering new and different
cultures provides additional subjects for their art. They have exhibited
throughout Turkey and in Zurich, Paris, London, Taipei, Taiwan, Okazaki,
Japan, In North America, their work has been exhibited in Toronto,
Ottawa, Calgary, Victoria, Edmonton, New-York, Los Angeles, Seattle and
Oregon with numerous showings in Vancouver
Asuman’s artwork-semi-expressionist in style-captures the essence of
traditional village life in Turkey: the panoramic scene of a small town,
a narrow street and building in an Anatolian village, the towering
minaret of a distant mosque. Her still life paintings are equally
imaginative, characterized by the same application of loose washes and
contrasting colours that bloom into each other to give a sense of both
solidity and transience. Asuman’s painting has evolved over the years,
reflecting the richness and inspiration of her travels. In Turkey,
Asuman taught art in high schools and in the American private school in
Izmir. She also teaches in the Dogan Art Gallery.
Atanur’s paintings are of ordinary people going about their tasks or
idling their way through the heat of the day, their lives structured by
the customs of their ancestors. His figures have strength and a sense of
poetry: a blacksmith at his forge, men gathered in the coffee houses,
women pausing in their labour at home or in the fields. His recent work
also reflects the people and cultures from his travels abroad. Atanur
teaches art classes at the Family’s gallery in Izmir when they are in
Turkey. He was recently selected as one of the five best artists in the
world by the Portrait Society of Canada in Toronto and has been invited
to demonstrate at the “2004 International Portrait Arts Festival” as
their best watercolour artist.
A major accomplishment in the Dogan’s life was staging the exhibition,
“Peace Through Art”, in May of 2004, in Cesme, Turkey. It drew 285
artists from 22 countries to come to share their art and the various
techniques of watercolour with each other and an international audience.
Asuman and Atanur’s main objective was to demonstrate that an event of
this nature could overcome language barriers and create new bonds
through the medium of art.
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