Tuesday, November 07, 2000

2000 Gebze? Yeah!

In 1999 Bericap Turkiye purchased Bizarre Spice for Pepsi Turkiye HQ. NPP produced this painting to commemorate the Spice Girls visit to Turkey in 1997 when Pepsi posters carrying Spice Girls were common at every bus stop. The 6th face is of course "Ned Spice"...

Bericap also commissioned paintings for it’s boardroom. Caps in Space I and II depicted the company’s product, caps and stoppers, flying through Nedspace...

In 2000 Bericap commissioned three new paintings for the new Chamber of Commerce building in Gebze including an NPP Ataturk Smiles...

A larger painting features three ‘sons’ of Gebze: Anibal, Hamdi and Yahya. Two military figures are presented from different periods of Turkish history: Anibal, as portrayed in book and film. Kaptan Yahya, a hero of the Ataturk era. In addition to these, we present one of the most influential Turkish artists, Osman Hamdi. These portraits inform visitors something of Gebze’s past.

The largest of the paintings, Gebze? Yeah! depicts a collage of Gebze’s landmarks including the The Chamber of Commerce building itself, the local football stadium, a principle mosque, industrial and manufacturing sites, Osman Hamdi’s house and most impressive of all, the castle overlooking the picturesque harbour below...

Indeed, it’s an area where industry and natural beauty sit side by side, symbolised by the newly renovated castle financed and coordinated Bericap Turkiye, a company that has made environmental concerns a priority with the funding of a tree planting scheme in the local area. The images on the boardroom wall are important and can make a difference, providing a reference point for the members of the Chamber of Commerce to introduce Gebze to a new or existing client. These paintings emphasise Gebze’s cultural and historic aspects in addition to being an industrial centre. They provide visitors with a sense of time and place, creating some perspective of what and where Gebze is: Gebze? Yeah!

P.S. I have not seen these paintings for a long time, but have been told the Chamber of Commerce have stuck the names of the paintings on the painted surfaces. No! Please don't do that!