Gulru Vardar

Gülru Vardar (b.1971) is a multidisciplinary artist currently living in Istanbul. She commenced into contemporary art curating and her artistic practices under mentorship of Prof. Jean-Christophe Ammann (colleague of Harald Szeemann in Kunsthalle Bern - When Attitude Becomes Form 1969 - and Documenta 5 - 1972).

During her Masters degree studies at ZHdK - Zurich University of the Arts, Vardar worked under professorships of Prof.Dr. Dorotee Richter, Dr. Elke Kransy and participated in projects with Dutch social practice artist Jeanne van Heeswijk. Under such influences and through her research topics Vardar`s curatorial and artistic focus moved to political aspects of curating, social practice art / relational art, politics of remembrance and catharsis of social traumas through contemporary art.

Her own artistic production take forms with the influences of Duchampian and Beuysian conceptualism and Anatolian mysticism. Her art reflects her own spiritual journey in a conceptual form with relevant art history references.

Her artwork take place in some private collections in Turkey. She also assumed teaching positions at Beykent University Faculty of Fine Arts, Istanbul.

MAS - CURATING & CULTURAL ANALYSIS
Sep 2012 - June 2014
Master of Advanced Studies, Zurich University of the Arts, ZHdK, Zurich

MBA - INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS & FINANCE
Sept 1995 - Dec 1996
Master of Business Administration, Long Island University, NY, New York

B. SC. - MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Sept 1988 - June 1994
Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering,
Major: Materials and Design
Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul

Note: Discontinued Ph D. 2016 - Semiology
Yildiz Technical University, Faculty of Arts and Design, Istanbul

Thesis, Academic Researches and Seminar Papers:

1- “Collector and Curator in the `Magic Circle`: Cooperative Caring for Art”
(Thesis involved the pragmatical and theoretical grounds for “Institutionalization of private collections and global analysis of 21st century contemporary art museums”)
Academic Supervisors: Dr. Dorothee Richter, Dr. Elke Kransy, Dr. Raphael Gygax

2- “Present - Lost or Found in Time”
(Seminar paper involved realm of notions about “collective memory”, researching the topics of “colonisation and genocide” and their representations in contemporary art)
Academic Supervisors: Dr. Silvia Simoncelli, Dr. Dorothee Richter, Dr. Soenke Gau

3- Academic Research and Seminar Paper a...

“Gasthaus Zum Bären Exhibition”, co-curated by Gülru Vardar, Museum Bärengasse,
Paradeplatz, Zurich, Switzerland, June 2014.

“First House” Installation exhibition of Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota curated by Gülru Vardar,
Zorlu Performing Art Center, Istanbul, Turkey,
October 2014 - October 2015.

An AI and Sound Sculpture Artwork commissioned by Zorlu PSM, prepared in alliance with Turkish Armenian conceptual artist Sarkis Zabunyan and Italian / French composer Jacopo Baboni-Shilingi, 2017 - 2018.

L'Atelier Bonjuk Bay by Gülru Vardar - Space Installation - Social Practice Art
Boncuk Bay, Gökova, Muğla, Turkey
April 2020 - November 2020
A carpentry atelier and peacock coop transformed into a space installation instrumentalized for art production, exhibition and collective contemplation.
From “Relational aesthetics” notion of Nicolas Bourriaud, the Space performed a set of artistic practices which take their theoretical and practical point of departure from the whole of human relations of Bonjuk Bay Community and their social context, rather than an independent and private space.


L'Atelier Bonjuk Bay by Gülru Vardar - Space Installation
Boncuk Bay, Gökova, Muğla, Turkey
May 2021 - November 2021

The space have evolved int...