Hulis Mavruk
Hulis Mavruk (born 4 July, 1952) is a painter born in Southern Turkey. He started professionally painting at the tender age of 6. His works have received acclaim from several quarters, including art critics. Although he has made a breakthrough in the mainstream art industry, he managed to do so without any formal art education that preceded his professional career. By simply teaching himself and learning by observation, he has become a respectable painter whose artwork is exhibited in different locations across the globe. Early in his career, Mavruk owned a gallery in Incirlik Air Force Base in Turkey, close to the Mediterranean Sea. Because of the location and the people he often interacted with, his gallery mainly had paintings of American officers. While there, Mavruk made contacts with several African American airmen and service officers, making portraits of them. In 1972 he moved to the United States where he began making paintings of mainly African Americans, their cultures, and things that define them. He found that black art was not being represented in galleries. His main goal was to create images that would celebrate African American culture and African heritage and create a gallery that not only featured his art but also to represent black artists. Mavruk’s paintings also captured renowned African American art figures such as Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., African American women, Buffalo Soldiers, and a host of other subjects. He has the ability to create any style using any medium. His latest work features Pop culture icons, using splatter paint approach, as well as African American art, landscape, abstract, portrait, and floral imagery. He currently owns a gallery and studio in Lynbrook, New York and Boca Raton, Florida.