Biography
Tülin Onat graduated from the State Academy of Fine Arts in 1971. In 1973, she attended the Salzburg Summer Academy, establishing contact with European art, an experience that played a decisive role in the development of her artistic practice. Since the 1980s, she has actively continued her artistic career through solo exhibitions, developing her own visual language through a transition from figurative expression to abstract compositions. In 1987, she played an active role in the establishment of the Derimod Cultural Center, contributing to its transformation into an important platform for exhibitions, education, and artist gatherings.
Between 1988 and 1990, Onat underwent a significant transformation in her artistic approach, beginning to treat the pictorial surface as a field of spatial inquiry. In the 1990s, she developed the concept of the “object-canvas,” through which painting evolved from a two-dimensional surface into a physical and spatial entity. Since the 2000s, working with techniques such as cutting, piercing, and raising the surface, she has placed the concept of void at the center of her practice, developing an expression structured around repetition, rhythm, and layering.
In recent years, the artist has held numerous solo and group exhibitions in various galleries and institutions, primarily in Istanbul, sustaining her artistic production continuously.
In 2022, the exhibition titled “Shaping the Void: The Story of 51 Years” at MKM Beşiktaş Contemporary Art Gallery brought together the artist’s long-term production, while the exhibition “On the Road” held in the same year at OvooArt focused on her recent works. In 2023, with the exhibition “Renewal” at Lale Foundation, the artist signaled a new phase in her production.
The artist also actively participates in biennials and institutional events, engaging with younger generations through artist talks within the scope of the Istanbul Children and Youth Biennial and lectures at various universities. She was awarded the Labor Award by the Artists Platform in 2020 and the Artist of the Year Award by the International Association of Plastic Arts (UPSD) in 2023.
She continues her artistic production and research in her studio in Istanbul.
AWARDS
1977 II. DYO Exhibition, Honour Certificate
1988 Exhibition of State Painting and Sculpture
1988 Exhibition of the 400th Anniversary of Mimar Sinan
1988 Bandırma International Culture and Tourism Festival
1989 Artists of today
1989 Beauty of Istanbul Art Activities
After that date she did not attempt any further art competitions
2020 – Labor Award, Artists Platform
2023 – Artist of the Year Award, International Association of Plastic Arts (UPSD)
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1980 State Gallery of Fine Arts
1981 Museum of Painting and Sculpture, Izmir
1981 Turkuvaz Art Gallery, Ankara
1981 100. Yıl Art Gallery, Tekirdag
1983 Gallery Baraz, Istanbul
1984 Kibele Art Gallery, Ankara
1984 Art Gallery of Atatürk Faculty of Education
1985 Akbank Art Gallery, Bursa
1985 Akbank Art Gallery, Eskişehir
1987 State Gallery of Fine Arts
1991 Mine Art Gallery, Istanbul
1992 Kazım Taşkent Art Gallery, Istanbul
1993 Kemal Satır Art Gallery, Adana
1993 Gallery Zon, Ankara
1993 Gallery B, Istanbul
1995 Kunst Raum, Berlin
1996 Derimod Art Center, Istanbul
1997 Emlak Art Gallery, Ankara
1999 Gallery Pi Art, Istanbul
2001 ‘Plastic Wine Rose’ İş Bankası Gallery, Istanbul
2004 ‘Metamorfoz’ Gallery Binyil, Istanbul
2002 Pi Artworks, Istanbul
2007 ‘Sınırsız I’ Aldimo Art Gallery, Bodrum
2007 ‘Sınırsız II’ Aldimo Art Gallery, Bodrum
2007 ‘Dilek Ağacı’ The Marmara Pera Gallery
2008 ‘Art Arda’ Mine Art Gallery
2009 ‘Döngü’ Contemporary09, Gallery Art&Life
2011 ‘Tırtılın Sonu’, Kare Art Gallery
2012 ‘Hayal-Et’, Astoria
2013 ‘Partly-Clouded’, Merhart Gallery
2016 – Döngü / Loop, Tirana (Solo Exhibition)
2017 – Oyun Bitti, Istanbul (Project)
2018 – Seçilen, Terakki Sanat (Solo Exhibition)
2020 – Homage to Leonardo, MKM Beşiktaş (Group Exhibition)
2021 – ArtContact Istanbul (Art Fair)
2021 – Hayat Seninle Güzel, Istanbul (Project)
2022 – Shaping the Void: The Story of 51 Years, MKM Beşiktaş Contemporary Art Gallery (Solo Exhibition)
2022 – On the Road, OvooArt (Solo Exhibition)
2023 – Renewal, Lale Foundation (Solo Exhibition)
TALKS / EVENTS
2022 – Istanbul Children and Youth Biennial, Artist Talk
13.10.2022 – “Shaping the Void: The Story of 51 Years”, MKM Beşiktaş Contemporary Art Gallery (with Fırat Arapoğlu, Bedri Baykam, Bünyamin Özgültekin, Nurcan Perdahçı)
19.10.2023 – “Art and Design in the 100th Year of the Republic”, Altınbaş University
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