Gülsün Karamustafa (Ankara, 1946) graduated from the Istanbul State Fine Arts Academy in 1969.
Her solo exhibitions include "Chronographia", Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin (2016-2017); “Swaddling the Baby”, Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna (2016) / Villa Romana, Florence (2015); “Mystic Transport” (a duo exhibition with Koen Theys), Centrale for Contemporary Art, and Argos Centre for Art and Media, Brussels (2015-2016); “An Ordinary Love”, Rampa, Istanbul (2014); “A Promised Exhibition”, SALT Beyoğlu, SALT Galata, Istanbul (2013); "The Apartment Building", EMST - The National Contemporary Museum of Athens (2012); Etiquette, ifa Gallery, Berlin (2011); "The Monument and the Child", x–hibit, Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Vienna (2011); “Mobile Stages”; Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg (2008); “Bosphorus 1954”, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn (2008); "sineması/cinemasi", Yapı Kredi Kazim Taşkent Gallery, Istanbul (2007); “Memory of a Square / 2000-2005 Video Works by Gülsün Karamustafa”, Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel (2006); “Black and White Visions”, Prometeo Gallery, Milan (2006); “PUBLIC/ PRIVATE”, Dunkers Kulturhus, Helsingborg (2006); “Memory of a Square”, Museum Villa Stuck, Munich (2006); “Men Crying presented by Museé d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris”, Galerie Immanence, Paris (2005); “Galata:Genoa (Scavere Finestrini)”, Alberto Peola Gallery, Torino (2004); “Mystic Transport, Trellis of My Mind”, Musée d’Art et Histoire Geneva, (1999), among others.
She took part in many group exhibitions including “Citizens and States”, Tate Modern, London (2015); “Artists in Their Time”, Istanbul Modern (2015); the 31st Sao Paulo Biennial (2014); the 3rd and 10th Gwangju Biennials (2000, 2014); “Art Histories”, Museum der Moderne Salzburg (2014); “Artevida Politica”, Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro (2014); the 4th Thessaloniki Biennale (2013); the 1st Kiev Biennale (2012); Singapore Biennial (2011), the 3rd Guangzou Triennial (2008); the 11th Cairo Biennial (2008); “The 1980s: A Topology”, Museu Serralves, Porto (2006); “Soleil Noir, Depression und Gesellschaft”, Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg (2006); “The Grand Promenade”, National Museum of Contemporary Art – EMST, Athens (2006); “Why Pictures Now”, MUMOK Museum Moderner Kunst Stifung Ludwig, Vienna (2006); “Projekt Migration”, Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne (2005); “Centre of Gravity”, Istanbul Modern, Istanbul (2005); “Contour the 2nd Video Art Biennale”, Mechelen (2005); “Ethnic Marketing”, Centre d’Art Contemporain, Geneva (2004); the 1st Seville Biennial (2004); “In den Schluchten des Balkans, Kunsthalle Fridericianum”, Kassel (2003); “Blood & Honey”, Sammlung Essl, Vienna (2003); “When Latitudes Become Forms”, Walker Art Center, Minnesota (2003); the 8th Havana Biennial (2003); the 3rd Cetinje Biennial (2003); and the 2nd, 3rd and 4th International Istanbul Biennials (1987, 1992, 1995).
Her works are included in public collections of EMST National Contemporary Art Museum, Athen/Athens, GR; Istanbul Modern, TR; MCA Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, US; MUMOK Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Wien/Vienna, AT; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, FR; Warsaw Museum of Modern Art (Museum Sztuki Nowoczesnej w Warszawie), PL, Neues Museum Nürnberg, DE; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, US; Tate Modern, London, GB; Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, NL; Wien Museum, AT.
Gülsün Karamustafa has received 2014 Prince Claus Award that is presented to individuals or organisations whose cultural actions have a positive impact on the development of their societies.
Gülsün Karamustafa lives and works in Istanbul.
Contribution to the Bird Family of Buyuk Londra, 2009. Column, cock sculpture and plaque, 138 x 29 x 29 cm. Photo by Barış Özçetin.
The City and the Secret Panther Fashion, 2007. Single channel video film, 00.13.07 Set photo by Serra Gulyuz
Swaddling the Baby series, 2015. Pastel and collage on paper, dimensions variable. Photo by Nicolò Burgassi, OKNOstudio at Villa Romana.
Men Crying, 2001. (Guest director; Atıf Yılmaz), three channel video, 00.18.08 (channel I and III), 00.13.55 (channel II). Installation view from SALT Galata. Photo by Cem Berk Ekinil at SALT Beyoglu.
Mystic Transport, 1992. 20 metal baskets and satin quilts. Installation view from Feshane, Istanbul.
Cengiz Çekil (Niğde, 1945 – İzmir, 2015) received his BFA from Gazi Institute of Education in Ankara, and went on to study at École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. There he held his first solo exhibition “Réorganisation pour une Exposition”, in the basement of a café in 1975. He returned to Turkey in 1976 and received an MFA in Sculpture from Ege University in İzmir.
His first solo exhibition at Rampa Gallery in Istanbul was held between May-July 2010. Curated by Vasıf Kortun, the project comprised works produced between 1974 and 2010. The second and the last solo exhibition ‘With a Cleaning Cloth’ again took place at Rampa Istanbul in September, 2013.
Çekil participated in noteworthy exhibitions such as “NEWTOPIA: The State of Human Rights”, Mechelen (2012); “I m Still Alive: Politics and Everyday Life in Contemporary Drawing” MoMA, NY (2011), “What Keeps Mankind Alive?”, 11th İstanbul Biennial, İstanbul (2009), “…With All Due Intent”, Manifesta 5, San Sebastian (2004); “28th State Painting and Sculpture Exhibition”, State Museum of Painting and Sculpture, Ankara (1967), “Orient-ation” Saint Irene, İstanbul (1994), 4th İstanbul Biennial, İstanbul (1995), State Museum of Painting and Sculpture, Ankara (1967).
Things, 1998. 144 burned coca cola cans, iron bar construction. Photo by Baris Ozcetin.
With a Cleaning Towel, 2012-13. 81 x 60 cm each. Installation shot by Nathalie Barki.
Tanned Jackets, 1994. 12 jackets, white water base paint. Photo by Cemal Emden.
What Time It Is, 2008. Cardboard relief, 60.5 x 80 cm. Ed 13 of 24. Photo by Nathalie Barki.
Smashed Into Pieces, 1998. 288 gold leafed moldings, pieces of newspapers, 200x200x30.5cm. Photo by Chroma (2017).
Meriç Algün (b. 1983, Istanbul) is an artist based in Stockholm. She studied at the Sabanci University, Istanbul, and later at the Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm. Algün has held many solo exhibitions in Europe and has participated in numerous international biennials such as SALTWATER: A Theory of Thought Forms, 14th Istanbul Biennial (2015); Between the Pessimism of the Intellect and the Optimism of the Will, 5th Thessaloniki Biennial (2015); All the World’s Futures, 56th Venice Biennale (2015); Leaving to Return, 12th Bienal de Cuenca, Ecuador (2014); You Imagine What You Desire, 19th Sydney Biennial (2014).
Official website link for the artist; http://www.mericalgun.com
The Orchard of Resistance, 2018. Installation in three parts: 153 photographs (10x15cm) in four frames in oak (146x225cm each), two channel video with sound, 17’’05’, two notebooks with text, two notebooks with ink drawings, marble figs.
Detail: The Orchard of Resistance (Observations), 2018. Marble figs, two notebooks with drawings, two notebooks with text.
Finding the Edge, 2017. Shelves, books, honeycomb, fern fossils, globes, ferns, cards, sound, animation, postcards, fern frond, beehive frame, wasp nest, bee, honey jar, framed taste bud diagrams (sweet and bitter) printed on OHF film, two videos in endless loop, apples, postal stamp,wax mould, shungite, knucklebone. 3000 x 6000 x 2090 mm.
Souvenirs for the Landlocked, 2015. Mixed-media Installation, 210x600x720cm All the World’s Futures, 56th Venice Biennale, Venice.
The Library of Unborrowed Books, 2012. Installation, Dimensions variable, edition per country.
Billboards, 2012. 9 different billboards, dimensions variable. Each billboard edition of 3+1 AP.
The Concise Book of Visa Application Forms, 2009. Hardbound book, inkjet print, 560 pages 32.5 x 24 x 8.5 cm 1/ 3 + 2 AP.
Erdil Yaşaroglu was born in 1971 in Istanbul. After graduating from Kadıköy Anatolian High School, he graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Sculpture at Mimar Sinan University. He got involved in professional caricature in the 90s. Throughout these years, Erdil has won nearly 30 awards from both local and international caricature competitions he participated in. First, he started working at Güneş Newspaper and he then created the "Komikaze" column in Limon and Leman magazines. Also in these years, he wrote various scripts for TV shows, wrote plays and gave lessons on caricature at Boğaziçi and Bilgi Universities.
In 2002, he founded the "Penguen" magazine with his friends. They then went on to publish "Lombak", "Kemik" and "Hayvan" magazines. In 2010, he got into the Guinness World Records book, by drawing the world's largest caricature with the size of 12,000 square meters. In 2014, he published the first humor magazine for children, "Süper Penguen". He became co-producer on the animated movie "The Bad Cat" in 2016. His 19 books, published as Komikaze, sold over 1 million copies. He joined sculpture exhibitions in Turkey and abroad. Nowadays, he is involved with his keynotes entitled "Backstage Of Humor" and "Brain Pain", which explore the backstory of humor, thinking techniques and alternative ways of looking at life. He is currently drawing for the "Süper Penguen" magazine and continues to make sculptures in his studio in Istanbul.
Official website link for the artist; http://www.erdilyasaroglu.com
Erdil Yaşaroğlu, Büyük Hayaller/Big Dreams, 2019, Polyester, metal konstrüksiyon, akrilik boya/ Polyester, metal construction, acrylic paint. 250 cm.
Erdil Yaşaroğlu, Bavul Prensi/The Prince of Suitcases, 2019. Polyester ve akrilik oto boyası/Polyester and ultraviolet acrylic paint 120 x 120 x 480 cm.
Erdil Yaşaroğlu, Deniz Kızı/The Mermaid, 2019. Polyester ve beton kaplama/Polyester, concrete coating 150 x 120 x 170 cm
Erdil Yaşaroğlu, g|e|r|g|e|d|a|n / r|h|i|n|o, 2018. Marin kontraplak, akrilik boya / Plywood, acrylic paint, 220x80x80cm.
Erdil Yaşaroğlu, Hayalci/Dreamer, 2019. Polyester ve akrilik oto boyası, metal konstrüksiyon/Polyester, ultraviolet acrylic paint, metal construction 250 x 120 x 300 cm.
Erdil Yaşaroğlu, Kedi/The Cat, 2019. Meşe ağacı/Oak tree, 90 x 40 x 180 cm.
Erdil Yaşaroğlu, Sıkı Dostlar/Good Fellas, 2019. Polyester ve akrilik boya/Polyester, acrylic paint, 150 x 200 x 350 cm.
Erdil Yaşaroğlu, Yarış/The Race, 2019. Polyester, metal konstrüksiyon ve akrilik oto boyası, su sistemi/Polyester, metal construction, acrylic paint, water system, 150 x 50 x 120 cm.
Erdil Yaşaroğlu, Yerinde Duramayanlar/The Beanies, 2018. Polyester, akrilik boya / Polyester, acrylic paint, 250 cm.
Vahap Avşar was born in 1965, Malatya. He attended Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Fine Arts from 1985 to 1989 and Bilkent University Fine Arts Department from 1989 to 1995 where he earned a Master’s degree and completed the coursework for a Ph.D. Avşar settled in New York after an artist’s residency program in 1995. Avşar’s solo exhibitions include “Lost Shadows”, SALT Beyoğlu, Istanbul (2015), “Black Album”, Rampa, Istanbul (2013), “iBerlin”, TANAS, Berlin (2012), “Noneisafe”, Charles Bank Gallery, New York (2011) and “Vahap Avşar”, Rampa, Istanbul (2010), “Come Who Ever You Are”, W139, Amsterdam (1993) and “Myths”, Galeri Zon, Ankara (1991).
His group exhibitions, among others, include “Istanbul: Passion, Joy, Fury”,MAXXI Museo Nazionale Delle Arti del XXI Secolo, Rome, “Too Early, Too Late: Middle East and Modernity”, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna (2015), “Artists’ Film International”, , Istanbul Modern, Istanbul and Whitechapel Gallery, London (2015), Istanbul (2015), “Zwölf im Zwölften”, TANAS, Berlin (2011), Second Exhibition, ARTER, Istanbul (2010), “I’m Too Sad to Kill You!”, Proje 4L, Istanbul (2003), 5th International Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul (1997) and “Gar”, TCDD Art Gallery and Ankara Central Train Station, Ankara (1995), 5th Havana Biennial Art Exhibition (1994), “Elli Numara – Anı Bellek II”, Akaretler 50, Istanbul (1993) and “An Another Art: For the Memory of Joseph Beuys”, German Cultural Centre, İzmir (1986).
Avşar is currently based in New York and Istanbul.
Vahap Avşar, Hotel Europa, 1992. C-print. 130 x 130 cm.
Vahap Avşar, 22 Beyaz Erkek Gömleği / 22 White Men’s Shirt, 1995 Gömlekler, ahşap çadır iskeleti / Shirts, wood frame. Ykş. / Approx. 172.7 x 195.6 x 177.8 cm.
Vahap Avşar, Bildiğimiz Üzere 20. Yüzyıl / 20th Century as We Knew It, 2011-2012. 4 adet bronz büst ve ahşap kaideler / 4 bronze busts and wood pedestals.
Vahap Avşar, Eye of The Beholder, 2010. Plastik benzin bidonları, yapıştırıcı ve tel / Plastic fuel cans, glue and wire 145 x 400 x 140 cm.
Vahap Avşar, All The Places You Will Go, 2016. İnşaat malzemeleri / building materials. Değişken ölçüler / variable dimensions.
Vahap Avşar, Sıfır : Cypher, 1991. Kaynaklı teneke kutular / welded tin cans, 209 x 209 x 16 cm.
Vahap Avşar, I Hate America, America Hates Me, 2019. Dört kanallı video enstelasyon, gazeteler / Four channel video installation, newspapers. (00:11:00)
Born in 1985 in İzmir, Eda Çekil completed her undergraduate degree at Dokuz Eylül University’s Photography Department in the Faculty of Fine Arts, and received her Master’s degree in Galatasaray University’s Media and Communications Studies program. She continues her work in photography and gender studies in Kocaeli University’s Plastic Arts Proficiency in Art program. The artist also works as a Research Assistant at Istanbul Okan University’s Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture. Her works, mostly based on her personal history, combine photography and different mediums on the axis of gender.
Nine Room, 2019 - 2020. Series of 9 photographs ( 35 x 50 cm each frame, 6 x 10 cm each photo).
Autoportrait, 2020. Archival pigment print, 70 x 105 cm.
Berat Işık was born in 1976 in Diyarbakır. Işık mostly uses video in his works that he has been actively producing since the late 1990s. The artist, who studied painting, was introduced to conceptual art before his university education, and it constitutes the main theme of his productions. The video productions of the artist, who adopts a critical and ironic language on migration, culture, social problems and social identities, have a utopian vision and a performative quality. In his videos where black humor is the main ground, Işık questions the impact of popular culture on collective memory. The artist, who considers the sensitivity of the subjects that he deals with great care and attention, takes a critical look at contemporary society and underlines the delicate situation experienced by minorities in Turkey. The forms he produces in various media other than his videos are viewed as the expression of layers of social memory intertwined with the artist’s individual identity and personal memory.
Işık, who had exhibitions, special screenings and gave speeches at institutions such as Pompidou Museum, Tate Modern, ZKM Karlsruhe, NGBK Berlin, École des Beaux-Arts Paris, Arter, Istanbul Modern, Salt and Depo, participated in many exhibitions in Turkey and abroad. The artist, whose documentaries and videos have been shown at various film festivals, still lives and works in Diyarbakır.
Official website link for the artist; https://www.beratisik.com
Berat Işık, Adalet / Justice (2020), Video 6’28
Butterfly Effect, 2012 Video 7’54”
I’ve Got the Power, 2016, Sculpture Polyester 310x210x65 cm
Speechless, 2021, marble powder, polyester, 62.5 x 36.4 x 40.7 cm (The production of this artwork is supported by SAHA within the scope of Sustainability Fund.)
Lost Highway With the Touch of Sarkis, 2019 Compressed Asphalt Cube, 40x40x40 cm
Pres_s, 2016, Video 4'33"
We’re Almost There, 2016, Video 4’ 33’’
Dancer in the Dark, 2003, Video 2’01