Ahmet Güneştekin (born December 22, 1966) is a

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

visual artist, whose works span

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

, conceptual art and constructions

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

. He left the town of Batman for Istanbul in 1991, but had to wait several years before he found his own style at the beginning of the 2000s. He then abandoned the figurative to pursue a "narrative abstraction" kind of production involving the recollection of a vernacular art, the memory of motifs such as carpets, lamps, and Ottoman copperware . Güneştekin's technique involves establishing a complex web of black

acrylic paint Acrylic paint is a fast-drying paint made of pigment suspended in acrylic polymer emulsion and plasticizers, silicone oils, defoamers, stabilizers, or metal soaps. Most acrylic paints are water-based, but become water-resistant when dry. Dep ...

, then filling each of the small spaces with a layer of oil paint, ranging from the light to the dark. Then, using a sort of pen with a rubber tip, he engraves into the paint, and writes as a

calligrapher Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an exp ...

would on a book. He writes on his paintings by removing material, a principle which has more in common with

than

. After an agreement he signed with the London-based Marlborough Gallery in 2013, Ahmet Güneştekin's work appeared in an exhibition in the same timeframe as the 55th

Venice Biennial The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

. Güneştekin's works appeared in the Italian daily

Il Manifesto (; English: "the manifesto") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Rome, Italy. While calling itself " communist" and broadly left-wing, it is not connected to any political party A political party is an organization that coordin ...

La Repubblica (; English: "the Republic") is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper with an average circulation of 151,309 copies in May 2023. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and l ...

La Stampa (English: "The Press") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Turin with an average circulation of 87,143 copies in May 2023. Distributed in Italy and other European nations, it is one of the oldest newspapers in Italy. Until the late 1970 ...

. Naturally, his works drew the attention of the art circle. Güneştekin's work featured in a solo exhibition, "Ahmet Güneştekin: Recent Paintings" between 26 November and 4 January 2014 in Marlborough Gallery. In 2014, his work was exhibited in Arco Madrid followed by the New York

Armory Show The 1913 Armory Show, also known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art, was organized by thAssociation of American Painters and Sculptors It was the first large exhibition of modern art in America, as well as one of the many exhibition ...

, Art Breda, and

Art Basel Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel (Switzerland), Miami Beach (US), Hong Kong and Paris. Art Basel provides a platform for galleries to show and sell their work to buyers, an ...

Hong Kong. Afterward Marlborough Monaco Gallery opened a solo exhibition by Ahmet Güneştekin from 18 September to 14 November. His works are on display at the Marlborough Galleries in Barcelona, Madrid, Monaco and New York at their permanent exhibition halls year round. Güneştekin's works can be briefly described as the interpretation of the oral narratives,

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...

s and

mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

from Anatolian,

Mesopotamian Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary o ...

and Greek civilizations using free technique. The solar disc is one of his occurring motifs.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

2022 * Foreigner Quarter (Gâvur Mahallesi),

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

, Turkey 2021 * Memory Room (Hafıza Odası),

Diyarbakır Diyarbakır is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, it is ...

, Turkey 2014 * Contemporary Istanbul '14, Marlborough Gallery, Istanbul. Turkey * The Heir to the Solar Disk, Marlborough Monaco, Monaco *

KunstRAI KunstRAI is an annual art exhibition, art fair for modern and contemporary art held in spring or early summer at the Amsterdam RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre, RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre in Amsterdam, Netherlands. From 2006 to 2011 it ...

Amsterdam, Mark Peet Visser Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands * Faces of the Sun, Mark Peet Visser Gallery, Den Bosch, Netherlands * Ahmet Güneştekin: Recent Paintings, Marlborough Gallery, New York, United States 2013 * Momentum of Memory, Arsenale Docks, Venice, Italy * Encounter Ankara, CerModern, Ankara, Turkey * Contemporary Istanbul '13, (represented by Marlborough Gallery), Istanbul, Turkey 2012 * Encounter Istanbul, Antrepo 3, Istanbul, Turkey * Carpet and Rug Design, Armaggan Art & Design Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey * A Lot, Güler Art Gallery, Ankara, Turkey * Intersections / Transformation, Santral Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey * Contemporary Istanbul '12, Mim Art Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey 2010–2011 * Pure Justice, Contemporary Istanbul '11, (represented by Gallery Baraz), Istanbul, Turkey * Doors Opening to the Sun, Contemporary Istanbul '10, (represented by Gallery Baraz), Istanbul, Turkey * Immortality, Casa Dell'Arte Art Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey 2009 * Elixir, Çırağan Palace Kempinski Art Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey * Immortality Gate, Contemporary Istanbul '09, (represented by Casa Dell'Arte Art Gallery), Istanbul, Turkey * Contemporary I, Painting and Sculpture Exhibition, Bali Art Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey 2007–2008 * The Fall of Troya, Contemporary Istanbul '08, (represented by Çağla Cabaoğlu Gallery), Istanbul, Turkey * Antique Modern, Contemporary Istanbul '07, (represented by Çağla Cabaoğlu Gallery), Istanbul, Turkey * Civilizations Born in the Footsteps of the Sun, AKM, Istanbul, Turkey 2005–2006 * Sîmûrg, Contemporary Istanbul '06, (represented by Gallery Baraz), Istanbul, Turkey * Aura, Toprak Art Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey * Sun Dance, Garage of Art, Istanbul, Turkey * Love in Mesopotamia, Atakule Vakıfbank Art Gallery, Ankara, Turkey 2003–2004 * Gallery Artist, Istanbul, Turkey * The Colors after Darkness, AKM, Istanbul, Turkey

Group exhibitions

2014 * Art Market Budapest, Güler Sanat, Budapest, Hungary * Summer Show, Marlborough Gallery, Madrid, Spain *

Hong Kong, Marlborough Gallery, Hong Kong * Art Breda, Mark Peet Visser Gallery, Breda, Netherlands *

The Armory Show The Armory Show is an international art fair in New York City, known as New York's Art Fair. Established in 1994 as the Gramercy International Art Fair by dealers Colin De Land, Pat Hearn, Lisa Spellman, Matthew Marks and Paul Morris, the annu ...

, Marlborough Gallery, New York, United States * Arco Madrid, Marlborough Gallery, Madrid, Spain 2013 *

Miami Beach, Marlborough Gallery, Miami, United States * Art Market Budapest, Güler Art, Budapest, Hungary * Sconfinamenti, Spoleto56 Festival, (curated by

Achille Bonito Oliva Achille Bonito Oliva (born 1939) is an Italian art critic and historian of contemporary art. Since 1968 he has taught history of contemporary art at La Sapienza, the university of Rome. He has written extensively on contemporary art and contemp ...

), Spoleto, Italy 2011–2012 * Sergüzeşt, Güler Art Gallery, Ankara, Turkey * Summer Exhibition, Antrepo 5, (Gallery Beyaz), Istanbul, Turkey

Catalogue articles

Stéphanie Pioda, ''The Heir to the Solar Disk'', Marlborough Gallery Inc., Monaco, September, 2014. Bertjan ter Braak, ''Faces of the Sun'', Mark Peet Visser Gallery, Den Bosch, The Netherlands, April, 2014.

Donald Kuspit Donald Kuspit (born March 26, 1935) is an American art critic and poet, known for his practice of psychoanalytic art criticism. He has published on the subjects of avant-garde aesthetics, postmodernism, modern art, and conceptual art. Educatio ...

, ''The Uses of Mysticism: Ahmet Güneştekin's Abstractions'', Marlborough Gallery, New York, November, 2013. Beral Madra, ''Momentum of Memory'', GSM Publications, Istanbul, May 2013. Johannes Odenthal, ''Abstraction and Mythos, Anatolia's Cultural Memory within Contemporary Art: About Ahmet Güneştekin's Artworks'', GSM Publications, Istanbul, September, 2012. Yalçın Sadak, ''Following the Traces of Sun: A Myth Ahmet Güneştekin'', GSM Publications, Istanbul, November, 2010. Kaya Özsezgin, ''Authentic Archaism in Ahmet Güneştekin's Paintings'', GSM Publications, Istanbul, November, 2009. Gülseli İnal, ''Antique Modern'', GSM Publications, Istanbul, March, 2007.

Following the Traces of the Sun with the Masters

Ahmet Güneştekin traced and compiled ancient

myths Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

, oral narratives and

s of

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

and

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

as of 1997. He took excursions to the villages and towns of Anatolia and Mesopotamia and conducted in-depth researches since 2003. He set up art exhibitions in the historical sights and public spaces together with many artists from contemporary art, sculpture and photography. The series of the exhibition titled ''Following the Traces of the Sun with the Masters'' brought about his first major exhibition, ''The Colors after Darkness''.

Documentary films

Güneştekin became the art director of the news show Haberci, produced and directed by

Coşkun Aral Coşkun Aral (born May 1, 1956) is a Turkish war correspondent, photojournalist, television journalist and documentary film producer. Life and work Aral was born on May 1, 1956, in Siirt, Turkey. Aral finished the secondary school and the high ...

in 2005. Afterwards he produces his own documentary series titled ''Following the Traces of the Sun'' for

TRT 1 TRT 1 (''TRT One'') is the first Turkish national television channel, owned by state broadcaster TRT. It was officially launched on 31 January 1968 as a test broadcast, becoming regular by the early 1970s. It was the only channel Turkey until 15 ...

and the series came to be the first

documentary films A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill Ni ...

to focus on art in Turkey.

Children's art classes

In his excursions to Anatolia and Mesopotamia, Ahmet Güneştekin provided painting classes to the children so that they can learn how to express themselves in

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...

. In classes, Güneştekin taught children about art concepts and techniques by exposing them to many different kinds of

art materials Media, or mediums, are the core types of material (or related other tools) used by an artist, composer, designer, etc. to create a work of art. For example, a visual artist may broadly use the media of painting or sculpting, which themselves hav ...

. Güneştekin met over 5,000 children and introduced them the world of painting.

References

External links

Ahmet Güneştekin Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunestekin, Ahmet Turkish male sculptors 21st-century Turkish sculptors Turkish conceptual artists 1966 births Living people 20th-century Turkish painters 21st-century Turkish people 21st-century Turkish painters Turkish male painters