Ahu Akgün completed her Master's degree in the Department of Visual Arts and Communication Design at Sabancı University in 2018. In 2022, she started the Proficiency in Art program in the Painting Department at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, where she also completed her undergraduate education. Since 2009, her works have been featured in numerous group exhibitions. In 2019, she was awarded the 37th Akbank Contemporary Artists Award. She held her solo exhibitions, Sebeb-i Ziyaret (2020) and Voids (2022) at Mixer, İstanbul. In 2022, her works were exhibited at Nada New York. She has conducted workshops for students of various ages at institutions such as the Nesin Foundation, Bursa Municipality, and Saint Joseph High School. In 2024, Ahu Akgün was one of the most represented artists in the “Farz Et ki Sen Yoksun” exhibition, curated by Selen Ansen, which featured works from the Ömer Koç Collection with nearly 400 artists, and was showcased at Arter. In the same year, she was invited to the “Painting the Present” exhibition at Yapı Kredi Gallery. Akgün’s works were also exhibited in the “Beginning of Memory” (Istanbul, Ark Culture) and “A Memory Surfaces” (Ankara, Kırlangıç Sokak) exhibitions, held to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Galeri Nev. Before her solo exhibition at Galeri Nev in March 2025, Ahu Akgün will participate in the “Chrysalis of Rebirth” exhibition at 67 York Street Gallery in London, led by Carpel. The artist continues her work in her studio in Istanbul.
Akgün’s painting practice focuses on personal encounters and moments from daily life, reinterpreting familiar images and their hidden meanings. She seeks to transform what appears ordinary into protagonists of visual narratives, inviting viewers to reconsider memory and perception. She aims to present images that already hold a place in the viewer's memory with new interpretations. She clings to the comprehensibility of the personal in her works, turning what seems simple and insignificant into the protagonists of her paintings—moments that have yet to be captured or defined. She lives and works in Istanbul.
Academic Background
- 2022–Present: Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Ph.D., Department of Painting, Istanbul, Turkey
- 2015–2018: Sabancı University, Master’s Degree, Visual Arts and Communication Design, Istanbul, Turkey
- 2009–2010: Burg Giebichenstein Hochschule für Kunst und Design, Master’s Degree, Department of Painting and Textile, Halle, Germany
- 2006–2007: Münster Kunstakademie, Erasmus Exchange Program, Münster, Germany
- 2004–2009: Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Undergraduate Degree, Department of Painting, Istanbul, Turkey
Artist Residencies and Collaborations
- 2023: Dou Print Lithography Studio, Ankara, Turkey
- 2022 (June): Gate 27, Ayvalık, Turkey
Awards
- 2019: 37th Akbank Contemporary Artists Prize
- 2015: Nuri İyem Painting Awards (exhibited)
- 2009: Sakıp Sabancı Art Awards, Painting, 3rd Prize
Solo Exhibitions
- 2022: Voids, Mixer, Istanbul
- 2020: A Reason to Visit, Mixer Project Space, Istanbul
Selected Group Exhibitions
- 2024: Beginning of Memory (40th anniversary of Galeri Nev), Ark Kültür, Istanbul
- 2024: Painting Today, curated by Burcu Çimen and Didem Yazıcı, Yapı Kredi Kültür Sanat, Istanbul
- 2024: Lithography, Dou Print selection, Kasa Galeri, Istanbul
- 2024: Suppose You Are Not, curated by Selen Ansen, ARTER, Istanbul
- 2023: Everything Will Be Like Now – Just A Little Different, curated by Derya Yücel, Künstlerhaus Palais Thurn und Taxis, Bregenz
- 2023: ...But My Heart is With You, curated by Yasemin Bay, Pursefa Inn, Gaziantep
- 2022: Rounded by Sleep, curated by Eda Berkmen, ARTER, Istanbul
- 2021: Wizard and the Garden, curated by Can Akgümüş, Erimtan Archaeology and Arts Museum, Ankara
- 2021: Past.Present.İstanbul, curated by Murat Germen, Sakıp Sabancı Museum, Istanbul
- 2021: Atış Serbest - Mecmu, Barın Han, Istanbul
- 2021: Olympos Exhibitions II – Landscape, curated by Taner Ceylan, Zulfaris Synagogue, Istanbul
- 2020: Us Actually, curated by Can Kilcioglu, Mixer, Istanbul
- 2019: Akbank Contemporary Artist Prize Exhibition, Akbank Art Center, Istanbul
- 2019: Atış Serbest - 5, MSGSU Tophane-i Amire Culture and Art Center, Cistern Galleries, Istanbul
- 2018: Over and Over, Mixer, Istanbul
- 2018: Atış Serbest - 4, MSGSU Tophane-i Amire Culture and Art Center, Cistern Galleries, Istanbul
- 2016: Mamut Art Project, Istanbul
- 2015: Nuri İyem Painting Awards Exhibition, Evin Art Gallery, Istanbul
- 2013: Memories of the Forgotten, curated by Artshift, Adahan, Istanbul
- 2009: Sakıp Sabancı Art Awards exhibition, Sakıp Sabancı Museum, Istanbul
Selected Art Fairs
- 2022: Contemporary Istanbul
- 2022: Artweeks Akaretler
- 2022: Nada New York (solo exhibition)
Artist Collectives
- 2021: Co-coordinator of Atış Serbest - Mecmu (with Ayça Telgeren, Levent Aygül, Çağrı Saray, Volkan Kızıltunç)
- 2018: Co-coordinator of Atış Serbest - 4 (with Ayça Telgeren, Levent Aygül, Volkan Kızıltunç)
- 2016–Ongoing: HAH Artist Collective (co-founded with Sevgi Aka, Ayça Telgeren, Defne Tesal, Gizem Karakaş, Murat Yıldız)
Selected Collective Works
- With Defne Tesal:2021: Supposition, video performance and drawing series as part of Atış Serbest - Mecmu2021: Atış Serbest - Mecmu, group exhibition, supported by SAHA Association (Barın Han, Istanbul)2019: Atış Serbest - 4, group exhibition, MSGSU Tophane-i Amire Culture and Arts Center, Istanbul
- 2021: Supposition, video performance and drawing series as part of Atış Serbest - Mecmu
- 2021: Atış Serbest - Mecmu, group exhibition, supported by SAHA Association (Barın Han, Istanbul)
- 2019: Atış Serbest - 4, group exhibition, MSGSU Tophane-i Amire Culture and Arts Center, Istanbul
- With HAH:2019: Digestion Programme: Processor, invited by Birbuçuk Kolektif, 16th Istanbul Biennial, MSFAU Museum of Painting and Sculpture2018: HAH Calendar (with Sena Başöz, Lara Ögel, Romina Meriç, etc.), published by Art Unlimited2018: There is Another Possibility: About Open Space and Artist Collectives, Kasa Gallery2017: Maybe, We Will Benefit from Our Neighbor's Good Fortune, Halka Sanat Project
- 2019: Digestion Programme: Processor, invited by Birbuçuk Kolektif, 16th Istanbul Biennial, MSFAU Museum of Painting and Sculpture
- 2018: HAH Calendar (with Sena Başöz, Lara Ögel, Romina Meriç, etc.), published by Art Unlimited
- 2018: There is Another Possibility: About Open Space and Artist Collectives, Kasa Gallery
- 2017: Maybe, We Will Benefit from Our Neighbor's Good Fortune, Halka Sanat Project
Selected Performances
- 2017: Repetition-cycle Talks and Performance Series, curated by Her Hal Kolektif, Salt Galata, Istanbul
- 2017: To Remember-To Forget Art Performance Days, Palazzo Tibaldi, Istanbul
- 2017: We Remember After Joe Brainard and Georges Perec, HAH Mekan, Istanbul
- 2017: How Are You?, Mamut Performances, Mamut Art Project, Istanbul
