IN THE STUDIO
among his peers helped grab the
attention of gallerists. He may be
downplaying his artistic technique
and flair, but something hit the mark,
as he was able to seamlessly
progress from fine art student to
full-time artist.
These traditional subjects may
seem an unconventional choice for
a millennial artist, but there is
something decidedly contemporary
about Alpay’s work. For example, in
both his portraits and his Vanguard
series – a collection of floral still life- bits of the board show through,
passages remain incomplete and
paint drips down the surface – and
this was part of a challenge Alpay set
himself to update the genre.
“If you tell somebody I’m a still
life painter or I paint flowers they
immediately have an association,”
he says. “What they’re thinking of is
usually a brown painting from the
Old Masters – and they, in particular,
painted boring still life. I thought
wouldn’t it be interesting to bring it
somehow into the 21st century
because I don’t think any art genre
can be dead, it can only be pushed
to the side or be a bit harder
to reinvent.”
Alpay adds another modern twist
with the canvas shape and orientation.
Much of his work is painted onto
squares, a contemporary shape –
think Instagram grids and smartphone
apps – while he opts for a landscape
perspective for his figurative art.
A day of painting starts early for
Alpay (he conveniently lives above his
ground-floor studio) and always
begins the same way – by picking
something to listen to. It could be an
audiobook – usually non-fiction but
he’s recently enjoyed a few of Agatha
Christie’s Poirot novels – or podcasts,
like Preposterous Universe, which
deal with big themes such as physics
and philosophy.
With these murder mysteries and
conversations for company, Alpay
finds it easier to focus on his art,
a fundamental part of which isABOVE Grace, oil on
canvas, 100x80cmTOP LEFT Vanguard
X V, oil on canvas,
150x150cmINSET Alpay at work
onVanguardXV