Ebru Uygun

In the past Ebru Uygun was performing only the act of painting itself, but today she works with four swathes of canvas, which she paints and then deconstructs by hand. The artist tears the painted material into strips, a performance that increasingly becomes physically demanding. In what may be considered a cathartic action, she can spend an entire day tearing strips for just one painting. One can easily imagine her working with unfettered abandon, relieved of any rules or structures of the traditional painting practice. Uygun also archives the sounds of such performances, recording all of the audio activity at her studio from the violent act of tearing the canvas to the heavy breathing resulting from her toil.

Ebru Uygun (b. 1974, Istanbul) attended the Department of Art and Design, Kingston University and went on to receive her bachelor's degree from the Department of Illustration at the University of Brighton. A selection of Uygun's solo and group exhibitions include Complicité, Dirimart, Istanbul (2002); Things, C.A.M Gallery, Istanbul (2003); Breath, Mac Art Gallery, Istanbul (2005); Trace, Mac Art Gallery, Istanbul (2006); Dirimart Presents, Dirimart, Istanbul (2009); Time for a Dream, Dirimart, Istanbul (2009); Istanbul Cool: Turkish Contemporary Art at Close Proximity, New York (2010); Confessions of Dangerous Minds, Saatchi Gallery, London (2011); Lucid Dreaming, Green Art Gallery, Dubai (2011); In Time and Rhythm, Dirimart, Istanbul (2012); Past and Present, Istanbul Modern (2013); Hot Spot Istanbul, Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich (2013); Inside, Yallay Gallery, Hong Kong (2013); Random Process, Dirimart, Istanbul (2016); and Surface and Beyond, Dirimart, Istanbul (2016). Ebru Uygun lives and works in Istanbul.

In the past Ebru Uygun was performing only the act of painting itself, but today she works with four swathes of canvas, which she paints and then deconstructs by hand. The artist tears the painted material into strips, a performance that increasingly becomes physically demanding. In what may be considered a cathartic action, she can spend an entire day tearing strips for just one painting. One can easily imagine her working with unfettered abandon, relieved of any rules or structures of the traditional painting practice. Uygun also archives the sounds of such performances, recording all of the audio activity at her studio from the violent act of tearing the canvas to the heavy breathing resulting from her toil.

Ebru Uygun (b. 1974, Istanbul) attended the Department of Art and Design, Kingston University and went on to receive her bachelor's degree from the Department of Illustration at the University of Brighton. A selection of Uygun's solo and group exhibitions include Complicité, Dirimart, Istanbul (2002); Things, C.A.M Gallery, Istanbul (2003); Breath, Mac Art Gallery, Istanbul (2005); Trace, Mac Art Gallery, Istanbul (2006); Dirimart Presents, Dirimart, Istanbul (2009); Time for a Dream, Dirimart, Istanbul (2009); Istanbul Cool: Turkish Contemporary Art at Close Proximity, New York (2010); Confessions of Dangerous Minds, Saatchi Gallery, London (2011); Lucid Dreaming, Green Art Gallery, Dubai (2011); In Time and Rhythm, Dirimart, Istanbul (2012); Past and Present, Istanbul Modern (2013); Hot Spot Istanbul, Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich (2013); Inside, Yallay Gallery, Hong Kong (2013); Random Process, Dirimart, Istanbul (2016); and Surface and Beyond, Dirimart, Istanbul (2016). Ebru Uygun lives and works in Istanbul.