Işıl Eğrikavuk studied Western literature at Boğaziçi University (Istanbul) then went to The School of The Art Institute of Chicago with Koç Foundation scholarship for her MFA in Performance Art. She taught art and media at Istanbul Bilgi University between 2009-2017. She also wrote a weekly column, Güncel Sanat Kafası (High on Contemporary Art) at national newspaper Radikal for three years, where she commented on the intersection of daily news and contemporary art. She currently lives in Berlin and is part of faculty at Universität der Künste (UdK), Media Department.
Eğrikavuk is the winner of Turkey’s first contemporary art prize, Full Art Prize in 2012. She is also the first recipient of SPOT Production Fund’s artist grant. She has participated in numerous international exhibitions, residencies, and her work has been published in both local and international journals.
Pluto’s Kitchen, Block Universe, London (2017), Every Kind of Myth is Written With Care, Propaganda in 21st Century, Lenbachhaus Museum, Munich (2017), Time to Sing a New Song, YAMA, İstanbul (2016), Art of Disagreement, Salt Galata&Ulus, İstanbul& Ankara (2016-2015), Infamous Library, Solo Exhibition, Rampa Gallery, İstanbul (2014), 11th Sharjah Biennial, Sharjah (2013), Reverse Corner, Solo exhibition, Egeran Gallery, Istanbul (2013), Change Will Be Terrific, Salt Istanbul (2012), Home Istanbul, Sao Paolo (2012), ISEA-10, Ruhr-Germany (2010), 11th Istanbul Biennial (2009), Endgame, South Korea (2009), The Interview, Solo exhibition, Boots Space St. Louis, USA (2008).
Education
2008– MFA School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Performance Art
2003– BA Bosphorus University, Western Languages and Literature
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS & PERFORMANCES
2017
Pluto’s Kitchen, Block Universe Performance Art Festival, London
After The Fact, Propaganda in 21st Century, Lenbachhaus Museum, Munich
House of Wisdom, Dzialdov, Berlin
A room of Our Own, ARK Kültür, Istanbul
2016
Choreography of A Court Case, Mo.e, Vienna
Art of Disagreement, Salt Galata, Istanbul
Time to Sing a New Song, YAMA Video Space, Istanbul
2015
Art of Disagreement, Solo Exhibition, Salt Ulus, Ankara
Mother Tongue, Group exhibition, 3,14, Bergen, Norway
3rd Mardin Biennial, Mardin, Turkey
Everything You Want to Know About Love and Art, Performance, Istanbul Culture and Arts Foundation
Printed, MixerArts, Istanbul
2014
Solo exhibition, Infamous Library, Rampa Gallery, Istanbul
Group Exhibition, Delfina Foundation, London
Rundlauf (Roundwalk) Bochum, Germany
Theater Der Welt Festival, Germany
2013
Solo exhibition, Reverse Corner, Egeran Gallery, Istanbul
Snapshot, 11. Sharjah Biennial, Sharjah, UAE
Penelopolis, Montenegro
2012
Change Will Be Terrific!, SALT Beyoğlu, Istanbul, Turkey
Istanbul Agora, SESC Pompeia, São Paulo, Brazil
A MacGuffin and Some Other Things, Project Art Center, Dublin, Ireland
Previous
ISEA2010 Ruhr Exhibition, Dortmund, Germany (2010)
End Game, LoopSpace Seoul, South Korea (2010)
Explaining The Joke, Performance Studies Conference, Zagreb, Croatia (2009)
11th Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul, Turkey (2009)
Awards (Grants/Fellowships & Scholarships)
SAHA Artist Support Grant with Delfina Foundation, London
Best Turkish Contemporary Artist, Full Art Prize, Grand prize co-winner, 2012, Istanbul
Spot Production Fund, Grand winner, 2012, Istanbul
Merit Scholarship, School of The Art Institute of Chicago
Merit Scholarship, Koç Foundation, Istanbul
Merit Scholarship, Boğaziçi University, Istanbul
Residencies
Delfina Foundation, London, 2014
Hardware Media Art, Dortmund, 2010
Garanti Platform, Istanbul, 2009
Boots Gallery, St. Louis, 2008
Selected Publications
High on Contemporary Art, Weekly Column at Radikal Newspaper, Turkey
Under The Same Roof, Book, 2011, Istanbul
From Coal to Culture, My city Project Book, 2011, Istanbul
Don’t Fall of While Playing in the Street, My City e-journal, 2010
Explaining a Joke, Performance Studies Conference, 2009, Zagreb
If This Exhibition Doesn’t Wake Them Up IT Is Not My Fault, Boot Print, Issue II,
November 2008, St. Louis, USA
For Sale, Art-Ist Contemporary Art Magazine, Issue 6, Spring 2007, Istanbul,
Turkey
A Conversation with Fatos Ustek, Boot Print, Volume I, Issue 1, St. Louis, USA
Public Art Practices and Temporary Services, Arredamento, Summer Issue, 2006,
Istanbul, Turkey
Community Art Practices, Sanat Dünyamiz, Issue 97, January 2005, Istanbul,
Bibliography
Performing Politics, On Işıl Eğrikavuk’s Art of Disagreement, Ibraaz, February 2016
You’ll never hear the end of contemporary art, Istanbul Art News, April 2015
Critics’ Picks, Art Forum, September 2013
It is Fun to ‘Read’ These Videos and Performances, Daily Radikal, 2012
Something Artsy is Going on in Tophane, Daily Zaman, 2010
Ali Yurtsever and Zerrin Boynudelik, “A Snapshot of Objectivity”, PAJ: A Journal of
Performance and Art”, Volume 31, No 2, 2009
Tim Ridlen, “The Interview”, Boot Print, Volume II, Issue II
Pelin Uran, “Deferring The Habitual”, Domus Magazine, December 2008
David Bonetti, “Art Review”, St. Louis Post Dispatch, February 27, 2008
Be A Realist/Demand The Impossible Exhibition Catalogue, Istanbul, Turkey
Hybrid Narratives Exhibition Catalogue, Istanbul, Turkey
Alan G. Artner, “Images extract visions from the commonplace,” Chicago Tribune – October 21, 2005