IREM GUNAYDIN

İrem Günaydın’s practice revolves around her interest in being an artist in an ontological sense. Her work seeks to perforate the tightly knit textures of art history, the autonomy of the self, and the fetish of authenticity and originality. This attitude allows the artist to think without establishing a new center, an original, or a singular truth. She explores the relationship between text and image, and the ways in which words and images circulate between discursive and pictorial realms, investigating the objecthood of language and the grammar of images. 

Günaydin’s practice is often generated through writing and unfolds in the form of installations gathering moving images, objects, prints and sculptural elements while writing functions as a fulcrum. She draws inspiration from art history, literature, film and music, deconstructing the canon with minor narratives and elements from contemporary popular media. In her written works, she sheds light on the diagnosis of the "I" and its implications for artistic expression. In her abstract narrative writing, Gunaydin splits herself into multiples that become spectators of one another and engage in conversations, addressing the economic realities of life as an artist and issues surrounding the recognition of artmaking as labor. Using scriptwriting and translation as generative tools, her work often leads to collaborative iterations encompassing film, performance and public installations.

İrem Günaydın (b. 1989, Istanbul) lives and works in Istanbul, Turkey

Irem holds a Foundation diploma from Chelsea College of Art and Design (2011), and her BA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins, London (2014). Her recent solo exhibitions include “Scripted Expanded Molded I” and “Salad Cake” at THE PILL (Istanbul, 2022 & 2020) as well as “Entrée”, Martch Studio (Ayvalik, 2021), “From A Tummy To The Sky Via A Mouth”, Ark Kultur (Istanbul, 2017) and “Ænd”, Torna (Istanbul, 2016). Her work has been included in group exhibitions such as Red Bull Art Around (Istanbul, 2016); “PRODUCE #3” - The Game Settled Into a Cagey Midfield Match, Elhamra Han (Istanbul, 2016) and Mamut Art Project (Istanbul, 2015). In 2023 she was the recipient of a fellowship residency at Künstlerhaus Stuttgart, Germany and in 2024 she was invited to the SAHA Studio Residency Program in Istanbul.