Gulsen Pazarbasi

Gülşen Pazarbaşı (b. 1988, Antakya, Türkiye) is a contemporary artist based in Istanbul. Her practice explores materiality, personal and visual memory, and space through layered paintings with a pronounced physical and spatial presence.
Her understanding of the surface is rooted in Antakya (Antioch), where the fragmented unity of mosaics, the coexistence of different historical periods, and the city’s experiences of destruction, loss, and regeneration have shaped her visual language. Colors, floors, walls, and architectural textures retained from childhood continue to inform the material memory of her work.
Working primarily with acrylic and acrylic mediums on canvas, Pazarbaşı constructs dense surfaces through repeated acts of layering, concealment, and selective reopening. Earlier decisions remain embedded beneath later ones, allowing each painting to hold multiple temporal and material states at once. Travel also functions as a mode of research; rather than working directly from images, she allows visual impressions to recede, fragment, and return through color, rhythm, and material density.
Her background in law informs her attention to systems, evidence, interpretation, and ambiguity.
Pazarbaşı presented her solo exhibition Aw...

Solo Shows
2024
– Awaken, Goose No. 25, Istanbul

Exhibitions
2026
– The Body After Desire, Ruins Luxury Resort, Bodrum
– Corridor: Between Boundaries, CVK Park Bosphorus Hotel, Istanbul
– At the Threshold of the Time, Inspera, Bodrum

2025
– From within the Age Beyond the Line, Atlas Pavilion Art Gallery, Izmir
– Breaking the Shell, Kiff Istanbul, Istanbul

Art Fairs
2026
– Focus Art Fair, New York
– Contemporary Istanbul Bloom, Istanbul
- Contemporary Istanbul, Istanbul

2025
– Focus Art Fair, London
– Izmir Art Fair, Izmir