Şükran Moral
Şükran Moral (born in 1962 In Terme, Samsun) is a Turkish artist,[1] best known for her exhibitions with her performances, videos and installations. Also, during the 80's and 90's, she wrote poetry and worked as a journalist and art critic in Turkey. Şükran Moral currently lives and works in Istanbul and Rome.
Early years
Şükran Moral was born in 1962 in Terme, Samsun. She grew up in a conservative family with her 3 brothers and 1 sister. Her father didn't let her study after primary school, however, she went against to his decision of making her to go to work in a tailors shop and with the help of her mother, secretly, she started middle school. With a great will, she graduated from high school even though she was under difficult circumstances such as Domestic violence and Peer pressure.[2]
Moral graduated from the Department of Fine Arts in the Faculty of Education at Ankara University. Then, in 1989, she moved to Italy and studied again in Academy of Fine Arts in Rome(Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma), where she graduated from the painting section in 1995.
Artistic career
Moral's area of interest have mostly been the restrain, pressure and the suppressive effect of religion on women, the themes concerning the mentally ill and disordered and the alienation and exclusion of the marginalized or unordinary; such as immigrants, Transsexuals, Prostitutes and else, those are living on the margins of the society and its values. Since 1994, Moral has had many solo exhibitions with her performances / videos and installations in the world. In 1997 she made a performance at the Museum of Contemporary Art Workshop Sapienza University of Rome, with the significant title "Museum & Morgue", where she transformed the museum into a morgue. Some other works of her have been performed at a women's asylum in Istanbul and in the men's section of a Turkish bath (Turkish "Hamam" which also gives its name to the work itself) in Galatasaray, Istanbul. The previously mentioned work of Moral, “Hamam”, which was also exhibited in 1997 as a part of International Istanbul Biennial, was and still is one of the most influential works on the contemporary artists of the world. "What's scandalous here is not the nudity," she says, "What's scandalous was the fact that here I was, an intellectual woman, who proposes doing something scandalous. If I had really been a whore, it would have been no big deal. Just being a female avant-garde artist is scandalous."[3] For over 10 years, Moral is ranked among the most interesting contemporary artists on the international scene.
In Press
In 2005, a book about Moral's work, titled “Apocalypse”, was published by an Italian publisher Gangemi, curated by Simonetta Lux and Patrizia Mania. Articles about her works have been published in international publications, and she has been invited to programs broadcast at various Italian and Turkish channel.
interview with Inside Art Webtv *italian
Works
Solo Exhibitions:
- 1992, "La valigia di Pandora", Art Hotel Museo, Prato
- 1993, Roma, Studio Aperto, Associazione per la Promozione dell’Arte in Europe, Ultimo verdetesto critico a cura di Vittorio Rubiu
- 1994, "Artista espulsa & Arte Espulsa", Galleria Studio Leonardi, Geneva
- 1995, "Diffidate della storia dell’arte", Mistrust the History of Art, Milano, Studio Oggetto, Milano
- 1996, "Cut and cover – il corpo", Galleria Studio Oggetto, Caserta
- 1997, “Speculum” (Diffidate della storia dell’arte), Sapienza–Università di Roma, Mlac-Museo Laboratorio di Arte Contemporanea, Rome photo
- 2001, "Hayat – nomadi dell’arte (Hamam, Brothel, Mental hospital)", Le Grenoble-Istituto francese, Naples
- 2001, "Şükran Moral, videoproiezioni (Hamam, Brothel, Transistanbul)", Momart Gallery of Contemporary Art, Matera photo photo photo
- 2004, "Apocalypse", Sapienza–Università di Roma, Mlac – Museo Laboratorio di Arte Contemporanea, Rome photo
- 2005, “Çaresizler – Despair”, Maçka Sanat Gallery, Istanbul photo
- 2005, “Leyla and Mecnun”, Francesco Pantaleone Arte Contemporanea, Palermo photo
- 2006, “Leyla ile Mecnun & Bordello”, Proje4L Elgiz Contemporary Art Museum, Istanbul
- 2007, “Peace…Fucking fairytale!”, B&D Studio contemporanea, Milan photo
- 2007, "Şükran Moral, Underground Istanbul", The Lab Gallery, New York video
- 2007, “Jesus&Muhammad”, Placentia Arte, Piacenza
- 2009, “Love and Violence”, Yapı Kredi Kâzım Taşkent Art Gallery photo
Group Shows:
- 1997, 5. International İstanbul Biennial - International Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul
- 2002, Camera della Donna - Sheppard Fine Arts Gallery - University of Nevada, Reno, NV
- 2003, Tri (o) ptique - Akerman/Ono/Moral - MLAC - Museo Laboratorio d'Arte Contemporaneo, Rome
- 2005, perdere la testa - Lattuada Studio, Milan
- 2006, Fair:Play 06 - Play - Gallery for still and motion pictures, Berlin
- 2008, Impronta globale - Ex Magazzini Generali – ISA - Istituto Superiore Antincendi, Rome
- 2008, Fuori Corso, ovvero come alcuni artisti leggono lo spazio della città dei saperi - MLAC - Museo Laboratorio d'Arte Contemporaneo, Rome
- 2008, Summer Kisses - Museo Laboratorio - Ex Manifattura Tabacchi, Città Sant'Angelo (PE)
- 2008, Made in Turkey - Deutsches Filmmuseum, Frankfurt/Main
- 2009, TransIstanbul - Turchità e identità transgenere - neon>fdv, Milan
- 2009, City_net Asia 2009 - Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA), Seoul
- 2009, Boden unter meine Füßen, nicht den Himmel - AdK - Akademie der Künste, Berlin
- 2009, Sechs Positionen kritischer Kunst aus Istanbul - Akademie der Künste, Berlin
- 2010, ID’s please! - Cer Modern, Ankara
- 2010, Video Dia Loghi 2010 - Velan Center for Contemporary Art, Turin
References
External links
- http://www.sukranmoral.net/
- http://www.turkishculture.org/whoiswho/visual-arts/sukran-moral-1745.htm
- http://www.eksisozluk.com/show.asp?t=%C5%9F%C3%BCkran%20moral
- http://www.ensonhaber.com/sukran-moral-sahnede-sevisti-2010-12-04.html
- http://www.artfacts.net/en/artist/sukran-moral-83143/profile.html