mertufan@gmail.com
Merve Ertufan makes installations, videos, sound-arrangements, texts and objects. Her practice engages with what might be called the microphysics of the mind, observing inconsistencies, gaps and dead-ends in language and habit. Speech, written text and gestural detours of the body frequently combine to form game-like relationships, with compulsive paradoxes, stories, questions and riddles informing their play.
Merve's works have been featured in museums and institutions such as Arter, Tanas, HAU, Zilberman Gallery, Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, CNAC, Bahar, the Istanbul off-site project of Sharjah Biennial 13, SPOT Production Fund, Corridor Project Space, and Verkstad, with two solo exhibitions - at at Depo (2020), and Bilsart (2022). She was part of the SAHA Studio program in Istanbul (2023), and a fellow at the Home Workspace Program, Ashkal Alwan in Beirut (2016). Her most recent text "Everyday is a Negotiation", (Matter Mattering Matters - Scienticity Reader, Kunsthalle Bern & Mousse) looks at the entanglements between the design of handles, the Turkish shrug, out-of-body experiences and other neuro-cultural conundrums, freely mixing analytical philosophy, scientific writing and whimsical reflections. She is currently based in Berlin and Delhi.
2015-2016: Fellowship, Home Workspace Program (HWP), Ashkal Alwan, Beirut/Lbn
2008-2010: MFA, Art in the Public Realm, Konstfack, Stockholm/Swe
2003-2007: BFA, Visual Arts, Sabancı University, Istanbul/Tr
Mar-Sep 2023: SAHA Studio, Istanbul/Tr
Apr-July 2013: PIRPIR studios, Pangalti, Istanbul/Tr
Jun-July 2010: Youkobo Art Space, Tokyo/Jp
Apr-Aug 2008: Art Center Istanbul, Borusan, Istanbul/Tr
2016: Bstart Production Fund, Istanbul/Tr
2009: Beata Brummers Foundation, Project grant for "me | you", Stockholm/Swe
2009: ResArtis Award, at BJCEM, Skopje/Mkd
Review 2023: Çift dikiş, Tekrar, bir nakış, Baştan. By Oğulcan Yiğit Özdemir. Art Unlimited. 18/Jan/2023.
https://www.unlimitedrag.com/post/cift-dikis-tekrar-bir-nakis-bastan
Interview, 2021: Riddles, Deaths, and Detours. By Tomris Melis Golar. Borderless, Jan, 2021.
https://www.border-l-e-s-s.com/merveertufan
Video Tour, 2021: Sergezen: "Waiting on a Scratch". By Onagöre. Manifold, 15/01/2021.
https://manifold.press/sergezen-merve-ertufan-kafakurcalayan
Review 2021: Bir çift mavi-siyah kabuk. By Sena Başöz. Art Unlimited. Jan-Feb 2021.
https://www.unlimitedrag.com/post/bir-çift-mavi-siyah-kabuk
Exhibition text, 2020: Art, existence and mind games. By L. İpek Ulusoy Akgül. ‘Waiting on a scratch’ exhibition flyer, Depo Istanbul.
Feature, 2020: Devir Teslim. Art Unlimited. Feb, 2020.
https://www.unlimitedrag.com/post/devir-teslim
Review, 2017: Merve Ertufan, Geriye Doğru: İki-Yüzlü Hatıralar Üzerine. By Naci Emre Boran. Sanat Dünyamız, Issue No:161. Nov- Dec 2017. YKY
Interview, 2016: Merve Ertufan. By Yasemin Özcan, XOXO The Mag, Feb 2016.
https://xoxodigital.com/post/8624/merve-ertufan
Review, 2015: Sohbetin Profesyonelleri ve Aşıkları. By Süreyyya Evren. Istanbul Art News, Jan 2015.
http://surmetinler.blogspot.com/2015/01/sohbetin-profesyonelleri-ve-asiklari.html
Interview, 2013: Iltifatlar ve Taklitçiler. By Didem Sandıkçı. artam Global Art & Design. Issue No:25. Nov-Dec 2013.
Feature, 2013: Merve Ertufan: Haklı Olan Kazansın. By Hüseyin Sidar Emen. Sanatatak.
http://www.sanatatak.com/view/merve-ertufan-hakli-olan-kazansin
Review, 2013: What's Up: Istanbul. By HG Masters. Art Asia Pacific.
http://www.artasiapacific.com/Blog/WhatsUpIstanbul
Exhibition text, 2013: If you envy me, I'll envy you. By Başak Doğa Temür. Envy, Enmity, Embarrassment Catalogue 1/2, Arter.
Review, 2013: Eski İtirazlar, Yeni İtiraflar. By Fatih Özgüven. Radikal, 03/02/2013.
Review, 2010: Två dåliga förlorare? By Mats Granberg. Norrköpings tidningar, 21/09/10.
2022: Can an answer be surprising?, Bilsart, Istanbul/Tr
2020: Waiting on a scratch, Depo, Istanbul/Tr
2010: Repeaters, Verkstad, Norrköping/Swe
2010: Jet-lagged, Open Studio, Youkobo Art Space, Tokyo/Jp
2009: "me | you" in Vita Havet, Konstfack, Stockholm/Swe
2025: (forthcoming) "Everyday is a Negotiation", Matter Mattering Matters - Scienticity Reader, Kunsthalle Bern & Mousse Publ., CH & IT
2024: "Notes on Isonomia, Origins of Philosophy & Interview with Kojin Karatani", in collaboration with Mochu, Yaz Publications, Sharjah Biennial 16, UE
2020: "Tumbling down with careful steps", artist book, Onagöre, TR
2025: (forthcoming) The place we do not know is the place we are looking for, West Space, Melbourne, AU
2023: Would you share your gold medal?, SVA Curatorial Practice, New York/USA
2023: Open Studio, SAHA Studio, Istanbul/Tr
2022: From the Top, On Repeat, Zilberman Gallery, Istanbul/Tr
2022: Lorem Ipsum, O’art, Istanbul/Tr
2020: Billboard Istanbul 2020, Istanbul/Tr
2020: The New Chronic, Corridor Project Space, Amsterdam/Nld
2019: Devir, Galeri 5, Istanbul/Tr
2017: BAHAR, The Istanbul Off-site Project for Sharjah Biennial 13, Istanbul/Tr
2016: Play is Freedom, Bstart, Istanbul/Tr
2016: Open Studio, HWP, Ashkal Alwan, Beirut/Lbn
2015: Take You There Radio, École du Magasin, Magasin-CNAC, Grenoble/Fr
2015: MABL- Mobile Artist's Books Library, Istanbul/Tr
2014: Produce 2, SPOT Project Fund, Istanbul/Tr
2014: Liebe, Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen am Rhein/Deu
2014: Character, Gallery Tankut Aykut, Istanbul/Tr
2013: Schwanengesang (Swan Song), Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin/Deu
2013: Suspended Song, Co-Pilot Gallery, Istanbul/Tr
2013: ISKELE 2. The Unanswered Question, TANAS, Berlin/Deu
2013: Ward Robe in Spare Oom, Gallery 1:10 at Konsthall K, Karlstad/Swe
2013: Ward Robe in Spare Oom, Gallery 1:10 at Galleri Verkligheten, Umeå/Swe
2013: Envy, Enmity, Embarrassment, Arter, Istanbul/Tr
2012: Pnin, Exhausted, Open Studio, Stockholm/Swe
2011: Liljevalchs Vårsalongen, Stockholm/Swe
2011: I Am Not A Poet, Totalkunst Gallery, Edinburgh/Uk
2010: Degree Exhibition, Konstfack College of Arts, Design and Crafts, Stockholm/Swe
2009: 4th International Biennale for Artists Books, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria/Egy
2009: 14th Biennial of Young Artists from Europe and Mediterranean, Skopje/Mkd
2009: Skopje0909, Kasa Galeri, Istanbul/Tr