Dirimart

Çiğdem Aky’s (b. 1989, Munich) painting can be explained in two sentences: she applies paint – and reacts to it. She is mainly interested in how colors interact with each other. Each of her paintings basically consists of three building blocks: depth, structure and the color tone. With these three building blocks, the artist aims to create color spaces on the canvas. Each color space has its own, very special character: its own depth and its own feeling that it conveys. When combining the colors into a color space, her aim is to ensure that the picture as a whole reaches its greatest possible depth, into which the viewer is drawn and which captivates them. ‚I see the shape that I always do repeat, as a kind of transparent vessel in which I can pour the paint. Color has no shape of its own, so as an artist you have to give color a shape. This shape is like the artist‘s handwriting.‘ – Cigdem Aky

Cigdem Aky was born in 1985, in Munich, Germany where she continues to live and work. In 2013, Aky graduated from Akademy of Fine Arts in Munich, where she studied painting and graphic art. Aky continued her studies in painting and graphic design at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe, graduating in 2016. From 2016 to 2017, Cigdem Aky was a student of Prof. Helmut Dorner. Solo exhibitions include Ein blauer Himmel, MEWO Kunsthalle, Memmingen (2020); Step by Step, Super+ Centercourt Gallery, Munich (2020); Solo Show, Zweisieben, Karlsruhe (2018); Solo Exhibition, Tristan Lorenz Gallery, Frankfurt (2017); 22th Artists Fair, Karlsruhe (2015); The wickerwork of color, Studio Rose, Schondorf am Ammersee (2015); Kolorit, Geschwisterraum, Karlsruhe (2015). Group exhibitions inlcude Facing the Sun, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Schloss Görne, Germany (2021); WABI-SABI, Kristin Hjellegjderde Gallery, London, UK; I just paint to say I love you, Gallery Strzelski, Stuttgart (2021); Treffpunkt Kunst, Bauverein AG, Darmstadt (2020); Jenseits der Stille, Gallery Kristine Hamann, Wismar (2020); COLOR ME BADD with Christian Awe, Gallery Tristan Lorenz, Frankfurt (2019); Welcome1, GEDOK, Munich (2019); Kunst Aktuell, Städtische Gallery, Rosenheim (2018); Half a pound of Art, Gallery Stoerpunkt, Munich (2018); New Positions, Tristan Lorenz Gallery, Frankfurt (2017); Happy Little Paintings, Luis Leu, Karlsruhe (2016); Um Fünf, Kiosk, Munich (2015). Aky’s work is held in a number of important collections which include Bauverein AG, Darmstadt and Regierungsprasidium, Karlsruhe.

Founded by Hazer Özil in 2002 in Istanbul’s Nişantaşı district, Dirimart has been instrumental in strengthening Istanbul’s role in the global art world by cultivating long-lasting relationships with prominent international artists. It has successfully introduced internationally acclaimed artists, including Thomas Bayrle, Hermann Nitsch, Shirin Neshat, Bernard Frize, Julian Rosefeldt, Candida Höfer, Franz Ackermann, Peter Zimmermann, Sarah Morris, and Ghada Amer among others to the Turkish art scene. Dirimart is also strongly committed to promoting established and emerging contemporary artists from Turkey internationally, such as Sarkis, Ayşe Erkmen, Hayal Pozantı, Nasan Tur, Güçlü Öztekin, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Özlem Günyol & Mustafa Kunt, and Ebru Uygun as well as Fahrelnissa Zeid, Âbidin Elderoğlu and Yüksel Arslan who were active in the 20th century. Dirimart’s first gallery space was located in Nişantaşı and hosted more than 100 exhibitions between its inauguration in 2002 and its closing at the end of 2018. Inaugurated in May 2016, Dirimart’s second gallery space in Istanbul, Dirimart Dolapdere, is a significant addition to the contemporary art scene in the city. Dolapdere is a rapidly emerging art district within the Beyoğlu periphery, the cultural center of Istanbul. The opening exhibition was curated by Heinz Peter Schwerfel and featured both Turkish and foreign artists—Franz Ackermann, Haluk Akakçe, Ayşe Erkmen, Bernard Frize, Isaac Julien, Eva Rothschild, Tomás Saraceno and Ebru Uygun. Designed by archi Markus Dochantschi of Studio MDA, New York, it includes a generous exhibition and office space as well as an outdoor sculpture garden, making it one of the largest galleries in Istanbul.