Eşref Armağan (born 1953) is a Turkish

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

born in Istanbul, Turkey. He is a very prominent painter in Turkey, mostly known for his ability to portray forms, perspective and colour in his artworks despite suffering from complete

visual impairment Visual or vision impairment (VI or VIP) is the partial or total inability of visual perception. In the absence of treatment such as corrective eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment, visual impairment may cause the individual difficul ...

, a condition he was born with.

Early life

Armağan grew up legally blind in a less than fortunate household and with no formal education. One of his eyes failed to develop beyond a "rudimentary bud", meanwhile the other was "stunted and scarred". Having no visual perspective of the outside world, he resorted to experiencing the world through heightening his other senses, particularly through touch. He often looked to his father, Nazim Armağan, for guidance. He started to take interest in learning about the world at the age of 6.

Painting process

He has painted using

Oil paint Oil paint is a type of slow-drying paint that consists of particles of pigment suspended in a drying oil, commonly linseed oil. Oil paint also has practical advantages over other paints, mainly because it is waterproof. The earliest surviving ...

for roughly 35 years. Eşref Armagan first visualises his painting before even touching the canvas. After which, he often uses a

braille Braille ( , ) is a Tactile alphabet, tactile writing system used by blindness, blind or visually impaired people. It can be read either on embossed paper or by using refreshable braille displays that connect to computers and smartphone device ...

stylus or a rope covered in a sticky substance to create the outline of his drawing. He requires complete silence before he begins painting. He then uses his fingers to apply the oil paint. After he applies one layer, he leaves it to dry before applying a new colour so that there is no smudging. The art pieces themselves are created without help from any individual. He is also able to create art that has

visual perspective Linear or point-projection perspective () is one of two types of graphical projection perspective in the graphic arts; the other is parallel projection. Linear perspective is an approximate representation, generally on a flat surface, of ...

. His art style is one based on challenging the limitations that affect him via his condition. In an interview with Al-Jazeera, he stated that his art is "...to prove that I can draw by touch" as well as claimed if he were to "...specialise in abstract art, the critics would dismiss my efforts as 'he paints things as he feels them'" rather than a skill to see past his blindness.

Psychological subject

In 2004, he was the subject of a study of human perception, conducted by the

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

John M. Kennedy of

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. This was to prove that, contrary to popular belief, a blind person can develop their visual prowess normally without external visual input from the outside world. In 2008 two researchers from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

, Amir Amedi and Alvaro Pascual-Leone, tried to find more about

neuroplasticity Neuroplasticity, also known as neural plasticity or just plasticity, is the ability of neural networks in the brain to change through neurogenesis, growth and reorganization. Neuroplasticity refers to the brain's ability to reorganize and rewir ...

using Armağan as a study case. Both scientists had evidence that in cases of blindness, the "visual"

cortex Cortex or cortical may refer to: Biology * Cortex (anatomy), the outermost layer of an organ ** Cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the vertebrate cerebrum, part of which is the ''forebrain'' *** Motor cortex, the regions of the cerebral cortex i ...

acts differently from how it acts with the non-blind. Pascual-Leone has found that Braille readers use this very same area for touch. Amedi, together (with Ehud Zohary) at the

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-ol ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, found that the area is also activated in

verbal memory Verbal memory is a term used in cognitive psychology which refers to memory of words and other abstractions involving language. A variety of tests is used to test verbal memory, including learning lists or pairs of words, or recalling a story after ...

tasks. The results they found showed that Armağan's visual cortex lit up during the drawing task, but hardly at all for verbal recall, meaning that some unused visual areas might be used in collaboration with one's needs from the brain. Moreover, in scans that were held while Armağan drew, his

visual cortex The visual cortex of the brain is the area of the cerebral cortex that processes visual information. It is located in the occipital lobe. Sensory input originating from the eyes travels through the lateral geniculate nucleus in the thalam ...

signals seemed as he was seeing to the extent that a naive viewer of his scan might assume Armağan really could see. Through this study, they concluded that ″...the blind and the sighted use perspective projection in making and using tactile pictures, and pictures by the blind include the use of freehand parallel, one-point and two-point perspective″.

Exhibitions and media

He has displayed his work at more than 20 exhibitions in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and the Czech Republic. He has appeared several times on

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

and in the press in Turkey and has been on programs on

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and ZD.

Volvo ad campaign

In 2009, Armağan was invited by

Volvo The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...

to paint the new model S60 as part of a social media campaign. Prior to the release of the S60, Volvo asked him to paint his interpretation of the then unreleased model as a promotional piece. This was a key demonstration of his ability to sense form and perspective, as well as contrast between the landscape and the car. Armagan absorbs the information by walking around the car, highlighting the key aspects of the car model such as the hood and the side. He then depicts the car on a road using a ¾ perspective. His work was documented in a series of videos posted on Volvo's

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

page. The resulting painting of the S60 sold on

eBay eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...

for US$3,050. The Canadian non-profit charity organization World Blind Union (WBU) was the benefactor of the auction.

Other works

Other more notable works include his exhibitions for organizations such as the Art Education for the Blind, a non-profit organization aimed at making art accessible to those with visual impairment.

Personal life

Armağan is married and has two children.

Notes

Sources

* Official Sites�
Eşref Armağan

Extraordinary people: Esref Armagan
*
Senses special: The art of seeing without sight
''The New Scientist'' 29 January 2005 * John Kennedy's study at the

br>Esref Armagan and perspective in tactile pictures

Слепой художник Эшреф Армаган
* Blogspo
Painting in the Dark: Esref Armagan, Blind Artist
Esref Armagan: History, photographs, how to buy his art. Also links to science journals, articles, and videos. * Tobias Teutenberg: ''Bilder aus der Dunkelheit
Zum sichtbar Taktilen in der Kunst Eşref Armağans
', 2013
Locke and Hume’s Philosophical Theory of Color is Investigated through a Case Study of Esref Armagan, An Artist Born BlindArt Beyond Sight