Kutluğ Ataman
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Kutluğ Ataman (born 1961 in Istanbul Turkey) is an acclaimed Turkish-American
contemporary artist Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art i ...
and feature
filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...
. Ataman's films are known for their strong characterization and humanity. His early art works examine the ways in which people and communities create and rewrite their identities through self-expression, blurring the line between reality and fiction. His later works focus on history and geography as man-made constructs. He won the Carnegie Prize for his work ''Kuba'' in 2004. In the same year he was nominated for Turner Prize for his work ''Twelve''.


Biography

Ataman was born in
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
in 1961; his father was a diplomat. As a young man, he was involved in filming the events of the
1980 Turkish coup d'état The 1980 Turkish coup d'état (), headed by Chief of the General Staff General Kenan Evren, was the third coup d'état in the history of the Republic of Turkey, the previous having been the 1960 coup and the 1971 coup by memorandum. During ...
, which led to his imprisonment and torture. After his release, in 1981 he left Turkey and moved to
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, remaining there for 15 years. He graduated in 1985 with a BA in Film from the
University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...
and completed his MFA in 1988Kutlug Ataman: Paradise , OCMA , Orange County Museum of Art
/ref> His first feature film, ''Dark Waters (Karanlık Sular)'', made in 1994, intriguingly utilised the metaphor of the vampire to encapsulate the crisis of contemporary Turkish culture. It was awarded five filmmaking prizes, including at the Istanbul International Film Festival. Openly
gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...
himself, Ataman's work often explores sexual identity and
gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...
. In 1997 Ataman directed an eight-hour video, entitled ''kutluğ ataman’s semiha b. unplugged'', focusing his hand-held camera on one of Turkey's legends, the
opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
diva Diva (, ) is the Latin word for a goddess. Diva is a name from Roman mythology, and is associated with the nouns divus, diva, which means god, goddess, and the adjective divinius, which means divine or heavenly. It has often been used to refer t ...
Semiha Berksoy Semiha Berksoy (24 May 1910 – 15 August 2004) was a Turkish opera singer and painter. Early life Semiha Berksoy was born in Çengelköy, Istanbul on 25 May 1910. Her mother was a painter, her father a poet and accountant. Semiha Berksoy stu ...
, once publicly persecuted for an affair with the exiled communist poet Nazım Hikmet, now found living on in obscurity as an octogenarian in an eccentric dream world of her own creation. Ms. Berksoy served both as Ataman's studied subject, as well as his shining star. This work was invited to several important art biennials and international film festivals. This was followed by his piece ''Women Who Wear Wigs'' featured four Turkish women – a revolutionary whose face remained obscured, well-known
journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
and
breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...
survivor Nevval Sevindi, an anonymous devout
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
student, and a
transsexual A transsexual person is someone who experiences a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desires to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (incl ...
. Ataman's next production, the feature film '' Lola+Bilidikid'', made in 1998, was set in the trans subculture within the Turkish guest-worker community of Berlin, Germany. It won the Jury Special Prize at the 49th International
Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...
, after screening as the opening film of the festival's Panorama Section in 1999. It also won the “Best Film” award at New York's NewFest. In 2005, Ataman directed his next feature film, '' 2 Girls'', from his screenplay adaptation of the best-selling Turkish novel, “ 2 Girls” (İki Genç Kızın Romanı) by Perihan Mağden. The film tells the story of two teenage girls with contrasting personalities and backgrounds, who form a close bond with sexual implications, and by extension examines the economic, social, psychological, and sexual pressures shaping today's youth. It won three prizes in 2005 for “Best Actress,” “Best Cinematography,” and “Best Director” at
Antalya Film Festival The Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival (), known for a few years from 2015 as Antalya International Film Festival, is a film festival, held annually since 1963 in Antalya, and is the second most important film festival in Turkey. Since 2009, t ...
, home to Turkey's most prestigious film award. With this film Ataman also received
“Best Director” prize
at the
Istanbul International Film Festival The Istanbul Film Festival () is the first and oldest international film festival in Turkey, organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts. It is held every year in April in movie theaters in Istanbul, Turkey. As mentioned in its reg ...
and won the “Special Jury Prize” at the 8th Festival of Asian Cinema (New Delhi, India) in 2006. In April 2009 he was the Chair of the Jury of the
Istanbul International Film Festival The Istanbul Film Festival () is the first and oldest international film festival in Turkey, organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts. It is held every year in April in movie theaters in Istanbul, Turkey. As mentioned in its reg ...
. His film
Journey to the Moon
' was shown outside competition at this festival. In June 2009 ''Journey to the Moon'' was shown at the 31st
Moscow International Film Festival The Moscow International Film Festival (, Transliteration, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is a film festival first held in Moscow in 1935 and became regular since 1959. From its inception to ...
. It was also screened at the BFI 53rd London Film Festival in October 2009, and in February 2011 had screenings in Brussels and Rotterdam as part of the Routes Award public programme. In competition at the 2004 Carnegie International at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, he won the top award and one of America's highest honours in art, the “
Carnegie Prize The Carnegie Prize is an international art prize awarded by the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It currently consists of a $10,000 cash prize accompanied by a gold medal. History The Carnegie Prize was established in 1896, t ...
.” In 2004, he was one of the four short-listed artists for the “
Turner Prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award). ...
” organized by London's prestigious
Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...
. In 2003, Kutluğ Ataman was named “best artist of the year” by the London Observe
newspaper
In January 2011 annual Almanac ArtAsiaPacific selected him one of the 2010 5 Artists of the Year. Kutluğ Ataman was the 2011 laureate of the third European Cultural Fund ‘Routes’ Princess Margriet Award for cultural diversity. His art works have been shown a
Documenta (2002)
th
Venice Biennale (1999)
as well as the Biennials in
São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
(2002, 2010), Berlin (2001) and
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
(1997, 2003, 2007 and 2011). He was also in the Tate's Triennial in 2003. His solo exhibitions include ''The Enemy Inside Me'', a major retrospective at Istanbul Modern, Turkey (2010/11), ''Mesopotamian Dramaturgies'' at MAXXI – the National Museum of 21st Century Arts, Rome (2010) and at ARTER in Istanbul (2011). He featured two works from ''Mesopotamian Dramaturgies'' at the Brighton Festival, UK in 2011. Other major solo exhibitions have included ''fff'' at the Whitechapel Gallery, London (2010), Kutluğ Ataman: Paradise and Küba, Ludwig Museum, Cologne (2009/10), Lentos Kunstmuseum, Linz (2009) Vancouver Art Gallery (2008), Paradise, the Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, California (2007), De-Regulation With the Work of Kutluğ Ataman, MuHKA, Belgium (2006), Küba, Artangel (2005), Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2005), Long Streams, Serpentine Gallery, London and Nikolaj, Copenhagen Contemporary Art Centre, Denmark (2002). His art works are in major international collections, including
MoMA The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
, New York, Tate Modern, London n, Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Vienna, the Dimitris Daskalopoulos Collection, Athens, Istanbul Modern, Istanbul and the Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh. Mesopotamian Dramaturgies – a multi-element work was exhibited in Linz as part of European Capital of Culture 2009, and subsequently at the Ludwig Museum in Cologne before its showing at MAXXI in Rome in 2010 and ARTER in Istanbul in 2011. Ataman's works were also in exhibitions in Istanbul, Basel, Lille, Milan, Gothenburg, Paris, and Malmö through 2009, in Istanbul, São Paulo, Berlin, Vienna, Sydney and London in 2010 and Istanbul, Bilbao, Brighton and London in 2011. In April 2009 Kutluğ Ataman was the Chair of the Jury of the International Istanbul Film Festival. A full-length documentary film directed by Metin Çavuş about Ataman's art career was issued at the end of 2011. In 2012 Ataman released Sılsel, a “timeline” made out of artworks contributed by viewers for the Istanbul International Theatre Festival. One attached to the other, the contributions formed a “timeline” that created an interactive “sky” containing messages from the viewers for the future while also defining the times in which the artwork was created. In 2013 Ataman made a public announcement that he needed a clean break from his film and art practice in order to be able to concentrate on “the next chapter”. Since then, he delivered onl
The Portrait of Sakıp Sabancı
in 2014, a large video sculpture made out of nearly ten thousand LED screens. The work was exhibited at the Venice Biennial main show in 2015 and at The Royal Academy, London in 2016. In 2014, Ataman released a new feature film called The Lamb which premiered at Berlinale's Panorama Special. The film won numerous awards internationally, as well as Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress in Antalya Film Festival. In 2015, Kutluğ Ataman initiated Palanga Art and Architecture Farm (PAAF) at a ranch he established in the mountains of Erzincan, Turkey. While declaring the ranch as “a living land art”, he is pioneering environmentally respectful and responsible holistic farming methods in Turkey. Adopting the slogan “from agriculture to culture”, he has commissioned several architectural projects by both new and well established architects. Since 2016, Palanga's various buildings have won numerous international architecture awards for innovation and experimentation. In 2019 he was selected “Employer of the Year 2019” by Arkitera. Presently, Ataman is working for his new feature film Hilal, Feza, And Other Planets that will be out in 2022. The project won many awards during the work in progress, including Eurimages Award for the scenario from Rome Film Festival, ARTE Award for the scenario from Sarajevo Film Festival, Cinefoundation Atelier selection from Cannes Film Festival and Turkish-German Co-Production Development Fund Award from Istanbul Film Festival. He recently showed ''Küba'' at the inaugural exhibition of NEON, Athens. ''Küba'' will open at Reina Sofia, Madrid as part of Thyssen Bornemisza's contemporary art collection. Ataman recently joine
Niru Ratnam
Gallery, London where he will be exhibiting new works in 2022. His present concentration is large scale sculpture, land art, photography and video art.


Artworks

* 2017 WALL * 2014 THE PORTRAIT OF SAKIP SABANCI * 2011 fiction arse* 2011 fiction orever* 2011 MESOPOTAMIAN DRAMATURGIES / MAYHEM * 2010 BEGGARS * 2009 SU * 2009 MESOPOTAMIAN DRAMATURGIES / COLUMN * 2009 MESOPOTAMIAN DRAMATURGIES / DOME * 2009 MESOPOTAMIAN DRAMATURGIES / ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE * 2009 MESOPOTAMIAN DRAMATURGIES / FRAME * 2009 MESOPOTAMIAN DRAMATURGIES / JOURNEY TO THE MOON * (Installation) * 2009 MESOPOTAMIAN DRAMATURGIES / PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS * 2009 MESOPOTAMIAN DRAMATURGIES / STRANGE SPACE * 2009 MESOPOTAMIAN DRAMATURGIES / THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE * 2009 FFF * 2007 TURKISH DELIGHT * 2007 DOUBLE ROASTED * 2007 CIRCLE OF FRIENDS * 2006 PARADISE * 2006 TESTIMONY * 2004 STEFAN’S ROOM * 2004 KÜBA * 2004 TWELVE * 2003 ANIMATED WORDS * 2002 IT’S A VICIOUS CIRCLE * 2002 1+1=1 * 2002 99 NAMES * 2002 THE 4 SEASONS OF VERONICA READ * 2001 NEVER MY SOUL * 1999 MARTIN IS ASLEEP * 1999 WOMEN WHO WEAR WIGS * 1997 KUTLUG ATAMAN’S SEMIHA B. UNPLUGGED


Filmography

Director: * 2022: HILAL, FEZA AND OTHER PLANETS (Feature Film) * 2014: THE LAMB (Feature Film) * 2009: JOURNEY TO THE MOON (Feature Film) * 2005: 2 GIRLS (Feature Film) * 1999: LOLA+BİLİDİKİD (Feature Film) * 1994: DARK WATERS (Feature Film) * 1993: Karanlık Sular * 1988: LA FUGA (Short Film) * 1985: HANSEL AND GRETEL (Short Film)


References


External links

*
Observer article on Ataman

Kutluğ Ataman
at Lehmann Maupin Gallery
De-regulation with the work of Kutluğ Ataman
Exhibition at MUHKA Antwerp from 17 March to 28 May 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ataman, Kutlug 1961 births Artists from Istanbul Living people Turkish contemporary artists Turkish expatriates in the United States Gay artists Turkish film directors Best Director Golden Orange Award winners Turkish LGBTQ artists Turkish LGBTQ rights activists Film people from Istanbul