Gölönü, Gündüz
Resmigeçit, 1969
An early viscosity print by Gölönü, Resmigeçit (Pageantry) depicts a military parade on what is likely a Turkish national holiday. A crowd has gathered to watch the marching soldiers; the figures are abstracted almost to the point of being indistinguishable as individuals. At the upper right, soldiers entering the scene are depicted vertically, lending a sense of order.
Gölönü graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts, Istanbul, in 1961 and began working as an assistant there in 1965. In 1968 he received a state scholarship to train in the renowned print studio of Stanley William Hayter in Paris, Atelier 17, where he developed his skill in viscosity printing—a multicolor technique pioneered by Hayter that incorporates both relief and intaglio effects. In 1973–74, with support from the Ben and Abby Grey Foundation, he was a guest artist at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota and also taught at Pratt Institute in New York.
Between 1974 and 1979, Gölönü was a professor at the academy in Istanbul. He then returned to the United States for a one-year teaching post at St. Catherine University in St. Paul. In the wake of Turkey’s 1980 military coup and the resulting political instability, Gölönü and his wife decided to remain in the U.S., moving to California to join the Kala Art Institute, which was founded by artists from Atelier 17, and where he taught classes on viscosity printing. In 2005, Gölönü returned to Turkey, where he continued to teach until his death in 2014.