The Art of Levent Isik

Levent Isik is a folk artist. He creates his works on found materials such as old, used pieces of wood, and with the additional use of objects such as bottle caps, marbles, crushed cans, doll eyes, and water putty, he builds them up into 3D pieces. He paints with oil based enamel paints. None of his works are complete until he finishes them off by sealing them with a few coats of high gloss polyurethane. That's what gives them their shininess.

The characters depicted in his paintings range from bizarre to creepy to beautiful to mysterious to sneaky to seductive to funny to evil to freakish, and he paints them in a style that is neat, tidy, clean, clear, and concise. You'll notice a lot of recurring motifs in Levent's works such as roses, eye masks, cloudy blue skies, round trees with intricate branches, high rise buildings, face paint, cats, birds, rabbits, and more.


I'm now going to post 30 of my favourite works by Levent and give you my two cents worth on each of them. Before I start, I want to mention, because I'm sure you'll want to know, that my favourite of the recurring Isik trademark themes are:

1-- the cloudy blue skies (see paintings 3, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 21, 28),
2-- the black eye masks (see 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 19, 22, 25, 27), and
3-- the high rise buildings (see 4, 15, 17, 22).

Behold the coolest art you'll ever lay your eyes on. Levent Isik knows how to have fun; this is evident in the entertaining fruits of his labour. Thank you, Levent, for providing your fans with happiness through your art.

I hope you will all appreciate his work as much as I do.

Check out his websites at:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Works-by-Levent-Isik/101656212513
http://www.artbreak.com/isik61

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1. ROSEMARY'S BABY

I take great joy in telling everyone, whether or not they care, that the face paint design on the baby in this painting was inspired by a face paint job done on yours truly a few years ago on Canada Day in Ottawa. It was supposed to be the maple leaf from the Canadian flag, but something, somewhere, between the face painter's hand and my face, went horribly wrong, and I ended up with this creepy design. This painting is dear to my heart, but not only do I love it for the face paint design, I also happen to be a baby fanatic! I think all babies are adorable and this little guy with his snake is no exception. Bless his diabolical little soul.

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2. THE DAILY PATH

There is so much that is wonderful about this painting. Its magnificent attention to detail, its patterns, its subject material... all of its components work so well together. The straight lines in the woman's dress and hair, her fishnet stockings, the rectangular bricks on the path, the zigzag dog with the horsie tail, the circles on the bird, the branches on the tree in the background... it's all so flawless. The path is perfectly placed. Everything in this painting is so tidy. I love the dog's teeth and tongue. I love the curves of the landscape where it meets the horizon. Yes I am gushing. Yes this painting is perfect.

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3. THE GIRL WHO FELL IN THE WELL

I love the feeling I get when I look at this painting. I want to be this girl, free falling in my bare feet, catching the occasional glimpse of the beautiful clouds in the sky through the opening up at the top of my spinning brick surroundings. An exhilarating point in time has been captured here; one does not even imagine the grim fate that awaits our beautiful subject.

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4. KICK OUT THE DEVIL

There is absolutely nothing in the entire universe that is cooler than this work of art. 'Nuff said.

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5. THE BUNNY SHOW

I don't have a fascination with human sized rabbits, real or imaginary, but this guy is pretty irresistible. What a face! I love the softness of this painting. The colours are soft, the subjects are soft, I go soft when I look at it... Our fishnet clad lady in red may look a little like a dominatrix, but she can't fool me. She is only playing; she's as pure as the driven snow.

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6. THE ARTIST AND HIS MODEL

Perfectly crafted as usual, this painting is clever, neat, and tidy. I love its meticulous attention to detail... from the rug to the painting within the painting, to the model, to the artist, to the drapes... it is so balanced. It makes me relaxed to look at the model's head and arm position. That is how I place my arm around my head after I lie on my pillow and prepare to sleep.

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7. THE SAND MAN

Did someone mention sleep? *yawn* How sweet is this one? Who was that winged masked man? He was the Sand Man. He brought you sleep after you made yourself comfortable under your floral printed blanket. To sleep, perchance to dream. So peaceful.

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8. SERPENTINA

Just another day in the life of the beautiful snake-charmer, Serpentina. The snakes all want a piece of her, but she's not having any of it! I love the green snakes against the dramatic black background in this painting. Teeth and tongues are terrific.

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9. THE HYPNOTIST

The starry blue background with the red, yellow, and green framing works perfectly with this painting of a hypnotist and his subject. We've all been there...

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10. MISTRESS IN THE SHADE

Mistress in the Shade is so lovely sitting up on her gentle elephant friend. I'm a sucker for beautiful cloudy skies, and this painting features an AWESOME cloudy sky in the background. The green of the grass and the umbrella sets the whole thing off perfectly.

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11. THE RED TRAIN

The jagged wood used in this work gives it a "peeking out through a hole" effect that works really well. There's my awesome cloudy sky in the background; and, in the foreground, a beautiful girl with a long red train flowing down from her head. The train divides the scene in two, the girl in the lower half and a bird in the upper half. I'm guessing the person peeking out on these visions of delight longs for what he sees: the companionship of the beautiful girl and the freedom of the bird. It's simply brilliant.

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12. TIGER GIRL

The determination of a confident woman or the fierceness of a ferocious tiger? Which is stronger? The woman's determination is. An excellent piece.

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13. WASP WOMAN

Wasp Woman has such a beautiful face, we need to introduce her to The Fly. I love how she is almost too large to fit in the frame of this painting. It's so appropriate. Love the tongue in cheek title, too.

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14. THE MAN WITH THE X-RAY EYES

The man in this painting has an extraordinary gift, and he didn't even have to order a pair of x-ray spex off the back of a comic book to achieve his power! He is sneaky and smooth, this is true... but he's also romantic, so who cares? It's great that even her ears are visible through her hair. This work of art is sensational and the yellow wall fits in so well.

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15. THE PEEPING TOM

The man in this painting reminds me of filmmaker Russ Meyer. Everything about him screams it, from his face to his clothes to his obsession with women... he will always be RM to me. This painting's starry sky, windows in the buildings, and colourfulness all contribute to its obvious beauty.

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16. THE COFFEE SHOP

This painting takes me back to my childhood and I like that. These women are 2 little girls having a tea party in their little playhouse in the backyard. I love the pink and green dresses, the purple walls, ceiling and floor, and the little chairs. The heavenly clouds and the checkerboard tablecloth make the whole thing visually stunning.

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17. NEIGHBORS

These women, too, remind me of little girls. Their adult friendship is no different from the friendship of any two little girls playing together, sharing their dollhouses with one another. The curved wood of the buildings frame these neighbours so nicely and, oh my, there are those delectable clouds again!

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18. THE COCKTAIL DRESS

The oblong shape of this painting is very appealing. What an interesting room! I just want to stare at it. I love the positioning of its contents. I love that the dress is hanging flat against a blank wall. I love the little window beside the woman and I love the clouds outside of it. I think she is in a tree house.

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19. CAT FIGHT

Look out! The most vicious of battles is underway and they've both got knives! Woman dressed in tiger print vs cat dressed in human street punk clothes. This painting is ingeniously clever. It's mind boggling. It's almost too much for me. I suddenly feel the need to go watch Santa Sangre again...

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20. WOODLAND NYMPH

This is a beautiful painting of a woman lying on the ground in the deep dark woods, while colourful happy flowers dance around her in friendship. What more can I say? It is super fun!

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21. WATER NYMPHS

Bathing beauties lovingly framed with a different coloured rose in every corner. I love the cloudy sky, snowy mountain, and muddy banks in this work. It's such a charming and serene piece, and so pretty!

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22. THE FORBIDDEN MARRIAGE

Shhh. There is so much mystery in this one, partly because of all the black and white in it. Love the way they're standing and the buildings in the background.

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23. THE GIFT

How sweet it is to be loved by Frankenstein's monster... This one is about LOVE, innocent and pure. For further emphasis on the love being expressed here, refer to heart shaped lines in background...

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24. ALICE IN WONDERLAND

Numbers 24-30 on my list all share something in common. They each feature the depiction of a different bizarre trio of characters. This work features a button in the bottom right corner that, when pressed, causes the green guy to spank the woman. Kitty is grinning. The cards, the madness, it's all wonderful there in Wonderland! Oh, Alice!!

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25. THE EMERALD ROOM

Enter if you dare!

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26. SECTION 5

This painting is the work of genius. I like it not only because I have a weakness for ventriloquists, I like it also for the positioning of the woman and the bear. Outstanding!!!

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27. UNTITLED

This is one of my top 5 favourite Isik works. Let's see now... a jack-in-the-box with a marvelously colourful neck and a masterfully crafted face made from a crushed can of hair spray... a free floating bunny... and a woman in karate chop stance. Of course! Why didn't I think of that? It's almost too good to be true.

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28. UNTITLED

It's so blatantly obvious what's going on here, I won't insult anyone's intelligence by spelling it out. (yes, the star...)

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29. ALICE

Back to Wonderland we go! I love this striped whiskered beast and I want a little man to hold my hand. Look out for the playing cards! This is so nice and bright.

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30. HALLOWEEN

What a great starry starry night. Halloween brings out the evil in everyone. I'm not sure which costume is the most creepy here: Dracula, Frankenstein, or the happy bunny. But I AM sure that if they ever come ringing my bell on Halloween night, I will run away screaming.