Nezir Korkmaz
Painter
Les Voyageurs - 1972 - Tatvan (Turquie) - 50 x 70 cm
My Story
Having lived in Paris for 40 years, my artistic journey began in Hirit, a small village in eastern Anatolia which, at the time, was entirely illiterate; there, I drew figures with charcoal on walls and stones.
I had never seen a motorized vehicle before the age of 7.
Later, we settled in Tatvan, where I completed my schooling through high school. In 1972, while I was in my second year of high school at the age of 18, I created my painting titled “The Travelers” (Yolcular), the cornerstone of my career.
I received academic training in Istanbul (under professors Nejat Günal and Devrim Erbil), as well as in Florence, Venice, and Vienna (under professors Rudolf Hausner, Ernst Fuchs, Wolfgang Hutter, and later H.R. Giger). Since then, I have explored the theme of the “hybrid” being, where the biological limits of humanity merge with cultural and technological heritage.
My Philosophy
Man is not made only of flesh and bone. Through my biological existence, my abilities are very limited. I am no different from a primitive human—weak and fragile.
Yet I possess an armor that sets me apart as a modern human and makes me powerful: I carry the cultural and technological heritage of the past. Thanks to this unique legacy, I evolve as a modern and empowered individual, standing on the shoulders of giants.
Technology is not merely a tool; it is a collective inheritance shaped by countless minds across generations. It is the union of the individual and the universal.
Although my biological heart has beaten at the same rhythm for millennia, my mind is no longer confined by geography.
With the tip of a finger, I touch the dusty shelves of libraries; in a second, I hear a whisper from the other side of the world. I am no longer only here; I am wherever data flows.
Like a car that runs on both gasoline and electricity, I am a Hybrid being.
Cameras are my eyes, phones are my voice, cars are my feet, airplanes are my wings, technology is my strength, and AI is an extension of my mind.
Yes, I am a hybrid being. Do not be surprised, for you are one too.
“Man, Technology, Nature” in a single concept. Without a dividing line, like the birth of a “Biomechanical” being.
I had to change the same face sometimes more than 20 times. I wanted to create a new kind of face—one never seen before. A Human carrying all of his cultural and technological inheritances. A Human with feelings of insecurity, with joys and fears, symbolizing our progress, but also the inevitable consequences tied to this modernization—often excessive and frequently harmful to the fragile balance of our cherished nature.
He has everyone around him, yet no one with him. He has every reason to be afraid, for he is the one who sees everything, hears everything, knows everything.
Bearing the full weight of his era on his shoulders, a man-machine who breathes, but above all, remains a Human.