Biography

Artist, writer and researcher Tayfun Serttaş (b.1982) works and lives in Istanbul and Bodrum. He graduated from Istanbul University Department of Social Anthropology in 2004 with a thesis on ‘urban anthropology’. He completed his master’s degree at Yıldız Technical University in the Art and Design Faculty Interdisciplinary Arts Program in 2007 with a project on ‘Photography and Minorities in Istanbul in the Context of Modernism and Cultural Representation’. Since 2000, he has participated in many academic projects in Turkey and abroad. He authored a series of articles and essays on the subject of minorities for various publications and periodicals. His artistic production, research and writing focus on a wide range of issues including urban anthropology, gender, cultural heritage of the other, sociology of everyday life, minorities, post-colonialism, urban transformation, immigration and social transformation, cultural strategies and minor politics.

Artist’s Statement

Tayfun Serttaş’s installation-based works are comprised of many different layers and combine various techniques including visual archives, found objects, sculptures, video, photography, artist books and drawings based on documentary themes. The artist employs experimental emulations positioned between the methodologies of social sciences and interdisciplinary art; he strives to construct a new visual language that investigates the interruptions in recent history and the complex impact of these crossroads on correlations of the individual, culture and identity. His works have been exhibited in many cities including Istanbul, New York, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Warsaw, Beirut, Athens, Thessaloniki and Frankfurt.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2018 ‘FLASHBLACK’
Pilevneli Gallery – Istanbul, TR

2015 ‘Le Musée d’Histoire Naturelle de Constantinople’
Studio-X Istanbul – Istanbul, TR

2015 ‘100 ans avant, 100 ans après’
Moments Artistiques – Paris, FR

2014 ‘Cemetery of Architects’
Studio-X Istanbul – Istanbul, TR

2013 ‘Foto Galatasaray’
FOAM (Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam) – Amsterdam, NL

2012 ‘Bazan’
Pilevneli Project – Istanbul, TR

2012 ‘Middle East Airlines’
ArtSümer – Istanbul, TR

2011 ‘Foto Galatasaray’
SALT Galata – Istanbul, TR

2011 ‘ReMap 3’
Kalfayan Gallery – Athens, GR

2011 ‘Souvenir Trauma’
Zico House – Beirut, LB

2011 ‘Tailor’s Dream M&M’
Apartment Project – Istanbul, TR

2010 ‘Studio Osep’
Delfina Foundation – London, UK

2010 ‘Territory Dispute’
Noa – Istanbul, TR

2009 ‘Studio Osep’
Galeri Non – Istanbul, TR

Selected Group Exhibitions

2018 ‘Busan Biennale 2018’
Museum of Contemporary Art Busan – Busan, KR

2018 ‘Mutterzunge’
Babylon – Berlin, DE

2017 ‘The Beauty of Concept’
Plato Sanat – Istanbul, TR

2016 ‘FOTOISTANBUL’
Jewish Orphanage in Ortaköy – Istanbul, TR

2014 ‘Experimental Preservation’
Columbia University – New York, US

2014 ‘We All Live on the Same Sea’
Sirius Art Centre – Cobh, Cork, IE

2012 ‘JOURNEYS / Wanderings in Contemporary Turkey’
Espace Cultural Louis Vuitton – Paris, FR

2012 ‘OUTSIDE-in’
ALANistanbul – Istanbul, TR

2011 ‘The 3rd Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art’
Teloglion Museum – Thessaloniki, GR

2011 ‘Point Zero’
ArtSümer – Istanbul, TR

2011 ‘Becoming Istanbul’
SALT Beyoğlu – Istanbul, TR

2011 ‘Destruction 2011’
Akarsu Sok, No:2 – Istanbul, TR

2011 ‘Where Fire Has Struck’
DEPO – Istanbul, TR

2011 ‘Diffusion of Inventions’
Manzara Perspectives – Istanbul, TR

2010 ‘DIVERÇITY / Learning from Istanbul’
Centrum Sztuki Wspolczesnej Zamek Ujazdowski – Warsaw, PL

2010 ‘SINOPALE / Third Sinop Biennial’
Dr. Riza Nur Public City Library – Sinop, TR

2010 ‘Ability to Face the Uncertain’
Serdar-i Ekrem Sokak – Istanbul, TR

2010 ‘Heyday’
Istanbul 2010 Portable Art Project – Istanbul, TR

2010 ‘État d’âmes, une génération hors d’elle’
ENSBA École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts – Paris, FR

2010 ‘Nakka!’
The Hall – Istanbul, TR

2009 ‘Artist Book International’
Centre Pompidou – Paris, FR

2009 ‘Unsound Reason – Adequate Cause’
Galeri Non – Istanbul, TR

2009 ‘Incompleteness of the Narrative’
E-Flux – Berlin, DE

2009 ‘Relative Positions And Conclusions’
Suriye Pasajı – Istanbul, TR

2008 ‘The Bitch Is Sleeping’
Karşı Sanat – Istanbul, TR

2008 ‘Becoming Istanbul’
DAM Deutsches Architekturmuseum – Frankfurt, DE

Selected Talks and Presentations

2018 ‘Photos of The Others’
Pilevneli Gallery – Istanbul, TR

2017 ‘The Beauty of Concept’
Ayvansaray University – Istanbul, TR

2016 ‘Winning the Archive’
Bahçeşehir University – Istanbul, TR

2015 ‘100 ans avant, 100 ans après’
Centre Pompidou – Paris, FR

2014 ‘Experimental Preservation – Cemetery of Architects’
Columbia University – New York, US

2014 ‘Two Archives, Two Methods, Two Presentations’
L’École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) – Paris, FR

2013 ‘Photography in all its forms’
SALT Galata – Istanbul, TR

2012 ‘On Foto Galatasaray’
Galatasaray University – Istanbul, TR

2012 ‘On Foto Galatasaray’
Sabanci University – Istanbul, TR

2011 ‘FOTO GALATASARAY: Film I Forgot to Put Back in Place’
SALT Galata – Istanbul, TR

2011 ‘Sentieri Urbani’
Fondazione Teseco – Pisa, IT

2011 ‘Artist talk on Post-Trauma’
Zico House – Beirut, LB

2010 ‘Artist talk on Studio Osep’
The Delfina Foundation – London, UK

2010 ‘Symposium on Cultural Interaction in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey’
Istanbul Bilgi Universty – Istanbul, TR

2009 ‘Artist talk on Foto Galatasaray’
Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center – Istanbul, TR

Education

2004 – 2007 M.A.
Yıldız Technical University – Faculty of Art & Design, Interdisciplinary Art
Thesis: Photographs and Minorities in Istanbul as a Means of Cultural Representation in the Process of Modernism

2000 – 2004 B.A.
Istanbul University – Faculty of Letters, Social Anthropology
Thesis: Socio-cultural Characteristics of the Handicapped Between the ages 14-65 Inhabiting the District of Kağıthane

1997 – 2000
Bodrum High School

Residencies

2014 Artist in Residence Program / Sirius Arts Centre – Cobh, Cork, IE

2014 IKSV Cité des Arts Guest Artist Program / Cité Internationale des Arts – Paris, FR

2011 Mediterranean Residency Program / Teseco Art Foundation – Pisa, IT

2011 AIF Residency Program / Arab Image Foundation – Beirut, LB

2010 Accented Residency Program / The Delfina Foundation – London, UK

2009 Istanbul Residency Program / Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center – Istanbul, TR

Certificates

2014 – IVLP / Promoting Social Change Through The Art – Washington DC, US

2009 – Istanbul Bilgi University / NGO Education and Certificate Programme – Istanbul, TR

2009 – UNFPI / TOT for Peer Education in HIV/AIDS and Sex Work – Delft, NL