Esra Gülmen (* 1986, Istanbul) is a Berlin-based artist from Turkey.
As a genuine witness and observer of her zeitgeist, Esra Gülmen generates contemporary iconography of the here and now in response to visual culture, and the present, while, concerning the past, she uses a form and creative language all her own. She develops a playful, ironic practice by carving out and revealing the "embedded notions" of social codes, the human condition, our inner voice and, needless to say, our insights and daily obsessions. Intending to torpedo the ideal in contemporary art, such as irony and parody, her gestures move between fields, at times travelling along the boundaries of sculpture and painting.
Gülmen's language of artistic expression addresses the viewer at eye level. Consequently, the "sublimity of painting" loses relevance in her works. Text, image or form operate democratically as intermediaries of her works, depending on the context. This attitude of hers can be regarded as the rawest reflection of the changing moods of modern humans, going beyond the impeccable and the ideal, moving closer to "the real." Seeking to render what can be known into something more perceivable, by making the image more visual, or text more comprehensible, Gülmen illustrates possible states of being outside "the great show." Challenging oppressive forms, the fetishism of meaning, and the burden of references, she calls us to revisit our questions concerning the raison d'être of art.
1986 Born in Kadiköy, Istanbul
2004-2005 Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Literature, American Culture and Literature, İzmir
2005-2009 Marmara University Faculty of Fine Arts, Bachelor’s Degree, Interior Architecture, İstanbul
2008-2009 Università degli Studi di Genova, Erasmus Exchange Program, Design Department, Genova
2009-... Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts, Master's Degree, İstanbul
2009-2012 Marmara University Faculty of Fine Arts, Research Assistant, Interior Architecture, İstanbul
Current Shows
2024 “Showroom Presentation”, König Gallery, Berlin
“Metaphor to Metamorphosis”, König Gallery, Munich
Museum Shows
2024 “Radical Feminine”, Kunsthaus Blaue Butter, Gmunden
”I WAS I AM” Solo show, OK Linz, Center for Contemporary Art, Linz
“Interactions 2024” Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn
“For Everyone! Redesigning Democracy”, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn
“Uncensorable, Euphoria”, Solo Show, Mountainview Gallery, the Open-Air Gallery of Fuhrwerkswaage, Cologne
Solo Shows
2024 “Look Mom, I Made a Landscape Painting”, Club Marvy, İzmir
2021 “Rrrrivers”, Bilsart, İstanbul
“Modern Feast” Pilevneli Project x Lucca, İstanbul
2022 “Don’t Play With My Emotions”, Pilevneli Gallery, Istanbul
2019 "Don't I look Turkish?", BOLD, Berlin
2018 "It's just OK.’, XH Cube x Markenfilm Crossing, Hamburg
2017 "Thirteen", Cafe Struik, Amsterdam
Group Shows
2024 “50 For Bad Berlin”, Fluss Bad Berlin, Bauakademie, Berlin
“My Best Of”, Mustafa Paşa Hamamı, İstanbul
"Liaison", Better Go South, Stuttgart
“Love is Everything”, Galerie Judith Andreae, Bonn
“DRAWINGS” HVW8 Gallery, Berlin 2023 Dubai Art Fair, Pilevneli Gallery, Dubai
Artworks at Akaretler, 7th Edition, Istanbul
Time is: Love, Kethüda Hamamı, İstanbul Expanded.art, Berlin
2022 Pilevneli Yalikavak, Bodrum
“Karma for Kabul”, Vienna
Artworks at Akaretler, 6th Edition, Istanbul MISA Pop-Up, Berlin
2021 MISA Van Ham Kunst Halle, Cologne
“Where are we now?” HVW8 Gallery, Berlin
MISA #3 (misa.art), König Gallery, Berlin
Artworks at Akaretler, 5th Edition, Istanbul
Contemporary Istanbul 16th edition, Pilevneli X König Gallery, Istanbul
Pilevneli X König | Kaplankaya, Bodrum
“Pictoplasma”, Silent Green, Berlin
”Presentation Room - I” Pilevneli Gallery, Istanbul
2017 ”Design talks Politics”, Designxport, Hamburg
“Poptales”, Gallery Fata Morgana, Berlin
2016 ”All-Stars” Pictoplasma, Urban Spree, Berlin
Public Projects
2023 MeyaMeya Project, Public art installation, Kobe, Japan
Controversy Teeter-Totters Installatıon, Wilhelmhallen Hallen #5, Berlin
2022 Esravaganza World, Installation, Potsdamer Platz Berlin