M.K. PERKER

M.K. Perker was born in 1972. He lives and works in Istanbul. He is one of the most prominent and internationally recognized artists in Turkey.

M.K. Perker's works showcase his powerful background inspiration from various art disciplines, bringing together both the nostalgic and the contemporary: enabling a transitional area where his imagination can play. The works present a popular culture emphasis that includes everything from movies to music, advertisements, videos, and historical figures. These works, which we can include in the Low Brow Art movement, which emerged in the United States and influenced the entire world, were created with Indian ink and a scanning tip on paper, opening a new field by combining classical figurative elements, realistic and exaggerated expressions in a surrealist atmosphere.

Perker’s two-sided oeuvre is the result of the constant progress of three decades; his focus on his subject and matter depends on the context he is working with; the comics medium lends him the agency of an escapade where his pen is free in drawing people, settings, and incidents that are not grounded in reality. His career as an editorial illustrator forces his lines to depict and mirror the currents of the real world and politics with a sprinkle of his style, humour, and character. The maturity of his technique serves as a foundation for Perker's works in various genres. With the adaptability of his line, he built a distinct, identifiable, and disciplined language in his editorial, comic, and creative careers. These very qualities of his work earned him the honour of being the first and the only member of the Society of Illustrators, where he also earned many awards for his work both as an artist and an illustrator.

Perker’s works graced many Turkish prints such as Gırgır, Leman, Le-manyak, Fırt, Digil, Avni, and newspapers like Milliyet, Sabah, and Radikal. More than a decade later, Perker’s way with the lines exceeded the limits of Turkey and appeared in the most respectable prints of the US, mainly The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, Mad Magazine, and The Progressive.

Perker was nominated for the "academy awards of illustration": the Eisner Awards, for his work in "Air" and "Cairo" (both published by DC Comics: Vertigo). Perker is one of 46 illustrators included in the documentary "Four Decades of Illustration," which was created to mark the 40th anniversary of The New York Times' "Op-ed" section. He currently draws daily for the Hürriyet newspaper and serves as the editor-in-chief of Karakarga Yayınları, which he co-founded.