BIOGRAPHY

Nancy Atakan, b. 1946, USA, lives and works in Istanbul. 
contact: nancyatakan46@gmail.com

Nancy Atakan is an active figure in the Istanbul arts scene as an artist, teacher, art historian, and art critic since 1969. Often autobiographical, she concentrates on topics such as the relationship between image and word, the meaning of belonging, gender politics, memory, and globalization as they relate to her personally.  All of her work involves research, collaboration and dialogue as it incorporates observations of current events and references to history and culture. Permeated with touches of lightness, historical narratives and weighty issues within her work are brought closer to everyday life.  As a part of her art practice, she co-founded the Istanbul based art initiative/project space, 5533. Her intense teaching career of creative arts and 20th century art history at English High School for Girls, Robert College, and Boğazici University spanned the years from 1975 until 2002. After she received her PhD at Mimar Sinan University in 1995, Yapi Kredi Kültür Sanat Yayıncılık published her book, Arayışlar, (Searching) in 1998 and in 2008 Karakalem Kitabevi published, Sanatta Alternatif Arayışlar, (Alternative Art Approaches) both frequently used as textbooks in art universities throughout Turkey. In 2016 Kehrer Verlag Heidelberg published a monograph of Atakan’s work entitled, Passing On, edited by Nat Muller.

Selected exhibitions:
It Still is As It Always Was, Pi Artworks London, (2020)
Translation in Motion, Riksidrottsmusett, Stockholm (2020)
Forward March, SALT Beyoğlu, Istanbul (2019)
Making a Shift, Galleri Box, Gothenburg (2019)
Under the Radar: 5533 , ISCP, Brooklyn (2018)
A Community of Lines, Pi Artworks, Istanbul, (2017)
Sporting Chances, Pi Artworks London (2016)
Dream and Reality – Modern and Contemporary Women Artists from Turkey, Istanbul Modern Museum, Istanbul (2011)
Istanbul Next Wave, Akademie der Kunst, Berlin, (2009-2010)

For Sale:
Arayışlar: Resim ve Heykelde Alternative Akımlar
Sanatta Alternatif Arayışlar
Passing On

Her work is represented by Pi Artworks.
For sale inquires please contact:  
ed@piartworks.comlondon@piartworks.com


All images on this site and their copyrights owned by Nancy Atakan unless otherwise stated. Images are not to be reprinted or reused without the expressed permission.