Last week, London Art Fair 2018 announced Nilbar Güreş, represented by Galerie Tanja Wagner, as the winner of the De'Longhi Art Projects Artist Award 2018.
Güreş's work was exhibited as part of "Dialogues," an exhibition which invited pairs of international galleries to collaborate around a shared theme. In a first for the London Art Fair, that ran from Jan. 17 to 21, this year's edition of "Dialogues" featured exclusively female artists whose work addressed the diverse experiences and identities of women. In doing so, curator Misal Adnan Yıldız aimed to address the lack of representation of women, especially non-European women, within the art world.
The 2018 judging panel consisted of Ziba Ardalan, Hettie Judah, Javier Pes, and Fatoş Üstek.
Nilbar Güreş, who identifies as a feminist artist, chooses a performative approach for her works, using photography, collage, drawing and video to place everyday realities into theatrical settings in order to explore cultural identity and codes. Güreş's works are characterized by a playful and humoristic approach that is nonetheless both political and critical, addressing the effects of sexism, violence, and gender inequality. Her work draws upon first-hand research and cultural observation, with Güreş often living with her subjects in order to experience their environments.
Güreş was born in 1977 in Istanbul, Turkey, and studied at the Department of Fine Arts at the Marmara University in Istanbul, and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. It is evident in much of her work that her cultural heritage is of great importance to her, although it also acts in conflict with other facets of her identity, with Anatolian narratives, and symbols and fabrics inspiring her works. "Head Standing Totem" for example, created in Brazil for the Sao Paolo Biennial, draws upon Güreş's Anatolian background, using scarves and serving cups within the composition, as well as making references to the indigenous cultures she encountered in Brazil. This trip also provided inspiration for a recently created collage on display at London Art Fair entitled "Jumping Bed," which evokes the ideas of wilderness and escapism.
Güreş's practice also encompasses video works, for example "Wolf and Lamb," featuring two children playing in animal masks - the boy as a wolf, and the girl a lamb - inviting the viewer to challenge the gendered conventions they may be subjected to as adults.
Nilbar Güreş will have her first solo exhibition in Berlin at Galerie Tanja Wagner, opening Feb. 23, 2018, followed by a solo exhibition at Lentos Museum, Graz in June of this year.
