Ardan Özmenoğlu

Born in 1979 in Turkey, Ardan Özmenoğlu obtained her BFA as well as her MFA in the department of Art, Design and Architecture from Bilkent University, Ankara. She was an Artist in Residence at Kala art Institute in Berkeley, Ateliergemeinschaft Milchhof e.V. Berlin, Frans Maserell Centrum in Belgium, Kulturkontakt Austria in Vienna and Glasstress in Murano, Venice. Her recent work consists of site-specific screen print installations, which incorporate architecture and sculpture, using materials such as glass, neon tubing and post-it notes. At the interface between printmaking and sculpture, these three-dimensional portraits come into being. Her works can be found in important collections internationally, such as the Hort Collection NYC, Naked Heart Foundation, the Frankfurt Airport Collection, the Osthaus Museum Hagen Collection, the Kala Art Institute Collection, the Borusan Contemporary Art Collection, the UniCredit Bank Art collection, the Fondation Jan Michalski Collection, the Imoga Mundi (Benetton) Collection and the Istanbul Modern Collection.

In her work, Ardan Özmenoğlu takes a probing look at a wide range of phenomena of contemporary society, among them cultural techniques, scientific and technological developments, history and culture, popular culture and the shaping of national and cultural identity. Her wok often has its starting point in the examination of the past and present of her home country. Many of her works are informed by her own biography, but they also set a universal example of the artistic examination of national and cultural identity, individuality and collective visual memory. Özmenoğlu’s refined, subtle works are precisely conceived narratives, visualized through the use of iconic images or illustrations taken from other contexts.