Born in 1970, in Konya, Turkey, Erdoğan Zümrütoğlu graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Dokuz Eylül University in Izmir in 1996. Following his graduation, he continued his studies in Belgium and the Netherlands, exposed to the influence and enduring qualities of European painting.
Zümrütoğlu’s work embraces the dehumanisation of modernity, inviting us to peer into the window of the subconscious. He reminds us of the fragility of human existence, revealing a narrative steeped in the depths of psychological anxiety and pollutions of the mind.
His work beautifully captures the dysmorphic unease of the German Expressionists; the anxieties of modern life descended onto the canvas in a single chaotic tension, welcoming the viewer into this circus of Boschian proportions, no doubt in reference, perhaps, to his time spent in Europe. Zümrütoğlu’s blunt expression of form and heavily impastoed canvases become a motif for the chaotic, an affliction which creates further unease.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2020 Atonal Drift, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK
2019 Time for The Salt, Pilevneli Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
2018 Mirror of Darkness, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK
2018 Eyewitness, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany
2017 Holy Bargaining, Pilevneli Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
2017 Portfolio Series 5; Zümrütoğlu, Plato Sanat, Istanbul, Turkey
2016 Für Alle und Keinen, Tammen & Partner Galerie, Berlin, Germany
2015 Dark Matter, The Empire Project, Istanbul, Turkey
2013 Cosmetic Violence, The Empire Project, Istanbul, Turkey
2013 O Zaman, Galerie Ivan Ptakhine, Paris, France
2012 Odysseus Yorgun, Tammen & Partner Galerie, Berlin, Germany
2012 Grammar of the Other, Tammen & Partner Galerie, Berlin, Germany
2009 Or II, Pi Artworks, Istanbul, Turkey
2009 Or I, DEMSA Collection, Pi Artworks, Istanbul, Turkey
2006 The Verses of Earth, C.A.M. Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
2006 Get Stubborn, Karşı Sanat Works, Ankara, Turkey
2004 Tombstone for Me, Antik Art Gallery, 14th Istanbul TÜYAP Art Fair, Turkey
2002 A Poet A Painter In The Context of Antonin Artaud, Bir Kültür Merkezi, Istanbul, Turkey
2001 In the Memory of Antonin Artaud, İzmir Art and Sculpture Museum, Izmir, Turkey
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022 Figures, Pilevneli Yalıkavak, Bodrum, Turkey
2022 Summer Exhibition, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK
2022 PILEVNELI | YALIKAVAK, Pilevneli Yalıkavak, Bodrum, Turkey
2021 Summer Exhibition, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK
2021 PILEVNELI X KONIG, PILEVNELI Kaplankaya, Milas, Turkey
2021 ANADOL - CRETEN - ELMACI - FIRMAN - TÖRE - ZÜMRÜTOĞLU, PILEVNELI Mandarin Oriental, Bodrum, Turkey
2020 Presentation Room I, Pilevneli Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
2020 Abstraction & The Natural World, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK
2020 The Contemporary Human Condition, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK
2019 Contemporary Istanbul, JD Malat Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
2019 ZONA MACO, JD Malat Gallery, CDMX, Mexico
2019 Summer Exhibition, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK
2018 At the Factory: 10 Artists/10 Individual Practices, Pilevneli Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
2018 Eyewitness, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany
2015 Backyard, Plato Sanat, Istanbul, Turkey
2012 Grammar of the Other, Tammen & Partner Galerie, Berlin
2011 Works of Zümrütoğlu, Tammen & Partner Galerie, Berlin, Germany
2009 St-art 14th European Contemporary Art Fair, Strassburg, Germany
2009 Contemporary Istanbul, Pi Artworks, Istanbul, Turkey
2008 TÜYAP Contemporary Art Fair, Karşı Sanat Works, Istanbul, Turkey
2007 Sisyphos, C.A.M. Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
2007 TÜYAP Contemporary Art Fair, Karşı Sanat Works, İstanbul, Turkey
2006 Contemporary Istanbul, C.A.M. Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
2005 Young Expansion in 2005 Contemporary Turkish Art, Pera Museum, Istanbul, Turkey
2005 Opposite Art Works, Artist 14th Istanbul TÜYAP Art Fair, Turkey
2004 Turkish Contemporary, M-A-C Kunstgalerie, Germany
2003 What is missing?, Karşı Sanat Works, Istanbul, Turkey
Selected Art Fairs
2022 Artweeks Akaretler, Pilevneli Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
2022 Contemporary Istanbul, JD Malat Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
2022 Contemporary Istanbul, Pilevneli and König Galerie, Istanbul, Turkey
2021 Artweeks Akaretler, Pilevneli Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
2021 Contemporary Istanbul, JD Malat Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
2021 Contemporary Istanbul, Pilevneli Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
2020 Untitled Art Fair OVR Miami Beach, JD Malat Gallery
2020 Artweeks Akaretler, Pilevneli Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
2019 Contemporary Istanbul, JD Malat Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
2019 ZONA MACO, JD Malat Gallery, CDMX, Mexico
2009 St-art 14th European Contemporary Art Fair, Strassburg, Germany
2009 Contemporary Istanbul, Pi Artworks, Istanbul, Turkey
2008 TÜYAP Contemporary Art Fair, Karşı Sanat Works, Istanbul, Turkey
2006 Contemporary Istanbul, C.A.M. Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
2005 Opposite Art Works, Artist – 14th Istanbul TÜYAP Art Fair, Turkey
Museum Collections
Istanbul Modern Museum, Turkey
Elgiz Museum, Istanbul, Turkey
DEMSA Collection Museum, Turkey