Gülsün Karamustafa ( b. 1946, Ankara) graduated from the Istanbul State Fine Arts Academy in 1969. She participated in the International Istanbul Biennials (1987, 1992, 1995); Kwangju (2000); Havana and Cetinje (2003); Seville Biennial (2004); Guangzhou Triennial, Cairo Biennial (2008); Singapore Biennial (2011), Kiev Biennale (2012), Thessaloniki Biennale (2013); Sao Paulo and Gwangju Biennial (2014).Her works are included in the collections of Nationalgalerie Hamburger Bahnhof (Berlin), Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), Museum of Modern Art (Warsaw), Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, MUMOK, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig (Vienna), Tate Modern (London), Guggenheim Museum (New York), Van Abbe Museum Eindhoven, Istanbul Modern among others. The artist lives and works in Istanbul.
Portrait credit: Muhsin Akgün
All images courtesy: the artist
GÜLSÜN KARAMUSTAFA
TURKEY
Dort Panter, Iki seccade, Bir Isa, Bebek Kemanci,
Yildizlar ve Tuller (Four Panthers, Two Praying Carpets,
One Jesus, Baby Violonist, Stars and Tulles), 1980 – 2022. Textile collage, 240 cm x 260 cm.
Melankolik Sahmaran (Melancholic Basilisk), 1980-2022.
Textile collage, 120 cm x 160 cm.
The two new textile collages by Gülsün Karamustafa invoke the syncretic mix of cultures that define the matrix of Mardin. The works have been composed from fabrics gathered in the 80s by the artist during her travels to the south-east of Turkey as well as those picked up in Istanbul around the same time. This period in time was characterised by a large wave of migration from the eastern and south-eastern countryside to the big cities when the markets were flooded with brilliantly coloured goods, heralding a hybrid new visual sensibility born out of the clash between the metropolitan and immigrant cultures. The current works re-member and rejoice in this border-crossing of material cultures at a time of strained hospitalities and sweeping conservatism.