Biography
He was born in Istanbul in 1927. In 1951, he received his bachelor's degree from the Painting Department of the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts (Mimar Sinan University), from the Zeki Kocamemi Studio. In 1955, he won a European examination and went to Paris on a state scholarship. Between 1956-1957, he continued his painting studies in the studios of André Lhote, and between 1957-1960 in the studios of Henri Goetz. In 1960, he joined the teaching staff of the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts. In 1963, he founded the "Blue Group" with Altan Gürman, Sarkis, Devrim Erbil, and T. Tura. In 1964, he went to Paris for a second time on a French state scholarship. While continuing his engraving studies in the W. Hayter Studio and his painting studies in the Goetz Studio, he began creating 'Paintings on a Black Background'. In 1965, he studied abstract art at the Emilio Vedova Studio within the Salzburg Summer Academy, which he attended on an Austrian scholarship. In 1966, he was appointed as a lecturer in the Higher Painting Department at the State Academy of Fine Arts. He subsequently received the titles of associate professor in 1969 and professor in the same year. Between 1977 and 1979, he served as the director of the Istanbul Painting and Sculpture Museum. From 1983 to 1985, he was the head of the Painting Department at the Mimar Sinan University Faculty of Fine Arts. In 1993 and 1994, he worked on original prints at the Çamlıca Art House. In 1994, he refused the Sedat Simavi Foundation Visual Arts Award. Çoker, who worked on original prints at the Istanbul Graphic Arts Museum in 2014, continued his work in his studio in Istanbul. Çoker passed away in 2022.
