Early life and education
Onur was born inWorks
Onur's early works come in the form of abstract geometric sculptures. However, starting from 1971 she used found objects and light, transparent or reflective materials to create rhythmic compositions that examine space and time. Having lived and worked in the same house on the Bosphorus where she was born, her childhood memories and objects (clothes, toys, furniture, photographs) as well as found objects collected from its vicinity are materials she often rearranges in her works. In response to a series of open air exhibitions in Istanbul, such as in the gardens of the Museum of Archeology (1976 and 1977) and Dolmabahce Palace (1977), her work developed towards site-specificity and gradually embraced the installation form. Expanding the boundaries of both sculpture and painting, works such as Floral Counterpoint (1982) and Third Dimension in Painting (1982) create immersive spatial experiences. In parallel, her interest in the language of musical composition took center stage starting from Cadence (1995) and Prelude (2001) in Istanbul's Maçka Sanat Galerisi, and became a prominent feature of some of her works in the 2000s such as Opus II - Fantasia (2001, Kunsthalle Baden-Baden).Exhibitions
Her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions at Maçka Sanat Galerisi (1987, 1991, 1995, 2000, 2012), Istanbul Modern (2011), Augarten Contemporary, Vienna (2010), Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (2005), ZKM, Karlsruhe (2004), Lunds Konsthal (2003), and the Kunsthalle Baden-Baden (2001). She has participated in documenta (13), theWritings
Onur often accompanied her exhibitions with artistic statements addressing the public directly rather than relying on critics' views. In a 1987 artist talk at Maçka Sanat Galerisi, she said, “The artwork ends with the explanation of the artist.” According to Beral Madra, rather than imposing a meaning, this was intended as an invitation for the viewer to engage freely with the works to arrive at their own interpretations and narratives. The artist also wrote texts on exhibitions at Taksim Art Gallery. In her writing on a 1976 artwork by Cengiz Çekil, Onur also criticizes critics for their "irresponsible, effortless, arbitrary habit of appreciation or lack thereof."Collections and documentation
Onur's work has been part of public collections, including Tate Modern in London, MAK in Vienna, and Van Abbemuseum, among others. In a conversation with curator Özge Ersoy, collector Agah Uğur states that Musical Chair, a 1976 work by Onur is the pivotal work for his collection. Emblematic of the artist's intention to challenge traditional sculpting materials in the 1970s, the work consists of a wooden box with a tiny red chair on top. Uğur says that the work's exhibition history is crucial, as the work was rejected from the State Art and Sculpture Exhibition in 1976, with an Academy painting department tutor calling it “a child’s toy.” In a conversation with curators Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev and Hans Ulrich Obrist, published in conjunction with documenta (13), Onur states, “I forget, İlhan er sisterremembers and asks.” Onur's sister Ilhan plays a major role in the preservation of her artworks, "If Ilhan was not involved, there would not even be the photographs. There would be nothing."References
Further reading
* Füsun Onur, documenta (13), BUCHHANDLUNG Walther König, Cologne, 2012. * ''Füsun Onur: Aynadan İçeri'', ARTER, İstanbul, 2014.External links