Ahmet Güneştekin, the visual artist who interprets oral narratives, legends and mythology
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Ahmet Güneştekin, a visual artist of Kurdish origin born in 1966 in Batman, Turkey, is known for his works ranging from painting to conceptual art to sculpture. This self-taught artist’s passion for art has guided him since childhood. His unique style, described as “narrative abstraction“, interprets oral narratives, legends and mythology of Anatolian, Mesopotamian and Greek civilizations. His techniques include, with an individual and precise method, the use of oil paint and acrylic. After establishing a complex web of black acrylic paint, he fills each space with layers of oil paint, varying from light to dark. Then, with a sort of rubber-tipped pen, he cuts into the painting, writing as a calligrapher would on a book.
After leaving Batman City for Istanbul in 1991, he had to wait several years before finding his personal style in the early 2000s. Ahmet Güneştekin achieved international fame in 2013, after signing a deal with one of the five most prestigious galleries in the world, the Marlborough Gallery in London. His works are permanently exhibited in the Marlborough galleries in Barcelona, Madrid, Munich and New York. Recently, from February 21 to April 21, 2024, he held a solo exhibition as listed on his official website. For more information about his works and current exhibitions, you can visit his website https://ahmetgunestekin.com/.
What makes Ahmet Güneştekin‘s artwork unique? Their uniqueness arises from the abandonment of the figurative, when he decided to immerse himself in an “abstract narrative“. With motifs such as carpets, lamps and Ottoman artefacts, in which geometry is the driving force, his production is full of memories of a vaguely vernacular art. His works, exhibited in major exhibitions and which have attracted the attention of artistic circles, are imbued with symbols and scenes that speak of ancient times, addressing essential issues of humanity. With one of his most significant works, “Million Stone” https://production.divisare.com/projects/297904-cemal-emden-ahmet-gunestekin-million-stone, a black marble sculpture almost four meters high, l The artist wanted to represent the overcoming of the idea of gender.
Using a unique technique that combines painting and engraving, he made his works completely original. Ahmet Güneştekin has created works spanning painting, conceptual art and sculpture https://myartguides.com/interviews/an-interview-with-ahmet-gunestekin/. His production is unique and influenced by a combination of sources that have had an impact on him, starting from oral narratives and myths, atavistic sources of inspiration that are reflected in everything he creates. His exhibition at the Venice Biennale also attracted the attention of the media and the art world. Güneştekin is part of the contemporary Turkish art scene, therefore, his production is influenced by the cultural and artistic context of his country of origin. In summary, the combination of a diversity of sources has contributed to creating an artistic corpus that makes it unique and recognizable.
From a young age, Ahmet Güneştekin showed a strong interest in art, starting to paint in oil at the age of 9. In 1981, he held his first exhibition in his school’s library. After completing his high school education, he moved to Istanbul, where he enrolled at Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts, but then decided to leave to pursue studies in Business Administration. He opened his first professional atelier in Beyoğlu in 1997. In addition to painting, Güneştekin worked as an art director for art documentaries, including “On the Trail of the Sun with the Masters“, which led him to travel together with other artists of national fame in remote places of Turkey https://www.mutualart.com/Artist/Ahmet-Gunestekin/38B0642446B02BA6.
