Sarkis

Born in 1938 in Istanbul, Sarkis studied French, painting and interior architecture before moving to Paris in 1964. In 1967, he won the painting prize at the Paris Biennale. The same year at the Salon de Mai, Sarkis presented Do you know Joseph Beuys? Reference to the German artist he considers the most important of his time.

In 1969, he was invited by the critic Harald Szeemann to participate in the exhibition "When attitudes become form". Transmission and teaching are also at the heart of its concerns. From 1980 to 1990, he headed the Art department of the École supérieure des arts décoratifs in Strasbourg and from 1988 to 1995, he became director of the seminar at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Plastic Arts created by Pontus Hultén. Since the 1980s, Sarkis has participated in numerous international exhibitions (Kassel documenta, Venice, Sydney, Istanbul and Moscow Biennials) and has been involved in major international museums.

In 2010, in the “Passages” exhibition at the Center Pompidou, Sarkis' creations enter into conversation with the works of Kasimir Malevitch, the wall of André Breton's studio or Plight by Joseph Beuys, one of the tutelary figures. by Sarkis with the filmmaker Andreï Tarkovski, whose artist reinvests a film in Brancusi's studio. Passages evokes both the idea of a permanent passage from the workshop to the museum and the work of Walter Benjamin on the Parisian passages. These works, which summon the artist's Kriegsschatz (war chest), are made up of found objects, works of art or ethnographic objects, from different civilizations.

In 2011, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Geneva) (MAMCO) devoted a retrospective to him entitled “Hôtel Sarkis”. This four-storey presentation brought together 200 pieces dating from 1971 to 2011 and showed the artist's different practices - video or sound installations, watercolors, sculptures, photographs and films - increasing the resonance of a work produced in relation to other creators whether they are musicians, architects, writers, philosophers, painters, sculptors or filmmakers.

In 2012, Sarkis presented “Ballads” in the 5,000 m2 of the Submarine Hangar, at the invitation of the Boijmans Van Beuningen museum and the Port of Rotterdam, as well as “Ailleurs, Ici”, at the Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire, at the following the order that had been placed by the Center Region. He also participated in “La Triennale - Intense Proximité” at the Palais de Tokyo with the Frieze of War Treasures, as well as “Néon, who's afraid of red, yellow and blue? ”At La Maison rouge, Antoine-de-Galbert foundation, or“ Istanbul Modern ”at the Boijmans van Beuningen museum.

In 2013, Sarkis participated in the exhibition “When attitudes become form, Bern 1969 / Venice 2013” for the 55th edition of the Venice Biennale at the Prada foundation. He also exhibited at “Passages Croisés en or”, at the Château d'Angers, and was invited to present the War Frieze at the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Tasmania for the exhibition “The Red Queen”. Sarkis took part in the exhibition “Ici, Ailleurs” on the occasion of Marseille-Provence 2013, European Capital of Culture, as well as in the exhibition “Modernity? Perspectives from France and Turkey ”, at the Museum of Modern Art in Istanbul and at ARTER- Space for Art in Istanbul for a solo show entitled“ Sarkis - Cage / Ryoanji Interpretation ”.

In 2015, Sarkis represented Turkey at the Venice Biennale.