Etel Adnan - Colour as Language | Kleur als Taal

This is Etel Adnan. Known for her abstract landscapes... and her brilliant use of color. She worked intuitively...to show her vision of a landscape...and convey the power of nature. Adnan burst into the art world... around 2012... but he was already a celebrated writer and poet... in the previous period. In his work...

language

and painting complemented each other perfectly... and were connected. She said: "I write what I see, I paint what I am." In her first exhibition in Holland... her paintings, leporellos... carpets and literary works... can be seen alongside the work of Vincent van Gogh. They show her shared love of nature...color and

language

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Although she was born in Beirut... Adnan lived in California for a long time. The last years of her life... were spent with her partner Simone Fattal... in Paris and on the coast of Brittany... where we met her for, as it turned out... one of the last interviews of she. Six months before the inauguration... in November 2021, Etel Adnan died... at the age of 96. Ooh la la, she's huge. I am very sensitive to beauty. We never talk about beauty anymore. Art criticism is never about beauty. It is 'demodé', out of fashion. But in reality it's not that, beauty... it's an inner impulse.

And it makes us happy. It's not that complicated. We need it. It is more than shapes and colors. It's not just about what you see. Your inner world of experience. As with Van Gogh. If you look very carefully... you can feel the internal problems of him. His struggles. You get to know him much more intimately... through paintings of him... than if you talked to him. In the 1950s, Adnan moved to California...where he began painting. Sunsets, mountains and valleys...inspired his geometric areas of color...with Mount Tamalpais as his most beloved...and most common subject. It's a mountain... that I could see from my window.

I couldn't escape it. I was once asked the question: Who is the most important person... you have ever met? The mountain, I said. I discovered... he's never the same for two minutes. When a cloud passes over the sun... it's like someone turns off the light... and everything changes. That makes you realize... that we are constantly changing and moving. There is no such thing as complete peace. That applies not only to us... but to the entire world. Nature is also constantly changing... just like us. It is the power... of nature... that reaches us through color. What does color do to us... in relation to nature?

I responded: It is as if nature... is alive and has consciousness... and wants to validate its existence... its power. They are colors that make us realize... how intense... nature is. When you feel something very strongly... it will come to light, whether you want it to or not. You can't escape that. So I really respond... to the beauty of a place... of people, language and color. And I feel... it's coming to light, whether I want it to or not. When we are committed to something... our entire being contributes to it. It's more than just thinking. It's what you are...

You can't escape it. It will follow you, like your shadow. And in the end it comes out. So let it happen.