Extraordinary People, the Artist with No Eyes, 2008

"Esref has no eyes but he makes pictures: This surprises you? A new psychology of pictures springs from a mysterious discovery: an outline of a thing makes sense to touch and vision. Using raised lines, he sketches in outline, draws scenes in perspective and he invents picture metaphors. To understand E ref, I will need to reconstruct art history, to bring to your mind assumptions you did not know you had, and to show you where those assumptions came from". (Text by Professor John M Kennedy)

1953, Istanbul. Lives and works in Ankara, Turkey. Esref Armagan was born blind. He did intend to be an artist. His main interest in drawing was to try to make sense of the world around him as he heard about different objects, colours and sights. He started by feeling objects and then asking about their names, variety of colours and uses, anything to give him more information. He had little formal education and self-evidently, no art education. What he learned, he learned only by asking and through trial and error. Over the years he has developed different techniques to enhance his work. Besides black and white, he only uses five basic colours and does not use brushes. His work has been exhibited throughout Turkey and in many other countries, and he has been featured on the Discovery Channel's The Real Superhumans.