Art is directly related to human beings and contains an intense atmosphere as it harbours social and cultural reflections. In the field of art, which witnesses different social realities and cultural dynamics in every geography, artists have shown a tendency towards socialist realist tendencies with different plastic approaches. In the development process of Turkish art, there are many artists who stand out with these cultural dynamics. Mehmet Başbuğ, one of the important representatives of contemporary Turkish art, is one of the most remarkable examples in this context. This study aims to analyse the artistic approach of Mehmet Başbuğ, who has achieved an important position in the socialist realist structuring of Turkish art. The study focuses on certain works of Başbuğ that reflect the socialist realist approach. The nature and form of the socialist realist reflections in the selected works were analysed using the descriptive method. In line with this descriptive analysis, how the socialist perspective is expressed in social, cultural, local and universal contexts in Başbuğ's works is discussed. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that Başbuğ's works reflect the Anatolian culture in which he was born and grew up, nomadic communities inhabiting the highlands, the period of the National Struggle and the Central Asian Turkish culture with a socialist realist understanding. These works are considered to be important in terms of bearing witness to history and being a document in the transfer of cultural heritage to future generations.
Keywords: Mehmet Başbuğ, social realism, culture