Ayşe Kapusuz - Turkish Painting Association - UK- Headquartered in London

Who is Ayşe Kapusuz? (1982-İstanbul)

Ayşe Kapusuz, was born in Istanbul, 1982. She grew up and currently, live and work within the chaotic, distorted rhythm of Istanbul, a city that serves as a constant, high-decibel backdrop to her practice. She is a graduate of Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, department of painting. And during her undergraduate studies, she is specialized in traditional gravure and engraving techniques by selecting the university’s Gravure Printmaking Studio. After her graduation, she started to work as a volunteer Art Teacher for children and adults with mentally disabilities at ZİBEÇ- Surp Pırgiç Armenian Hospital, in Istanbul. Alongside her studio paintings, starting with 2010 she maintained her identity as a street artist, using a thick marker directly on the damaged walls of the city, preserving her visceral connection with the city’s frantic, exhausting, yet still breathing texture. She regularly enriched her practice through international cultural travels, visiting leading museums and galleries in Europe and other countries to expand her artistic references in the mean time. In 2015, she transitioned from the urban density of Istanbul to the serene environment of Gümüşlük/Bodrum, where she lived in a village for six years. This period of relocation became a profound exploration of community and social engagement. During this time, she dedicated 4 years to the Peksimet Village Children’s library(later called Pekder), serving as a volunteer art instructor for underprivileged local children. Her commitment culminated when she conceived, organized, managed and hosted a comprehensive charity art auction. This initiative was specifically designed to provide essential art supplies, educational resources, and access to cultural events for children facing socio-economic disadvantages. In 2020, during her stay in the mountain village of Karakaya(Gümüşlük), coincided with the global pandemic, a period defined by the stark contrast between the enforced isolation of the world and the untouched, raw beauty of her immediate surroundings. During this time, she expanded her practice to capture the essence of the natural environment, integrating the textures of nature into her conceptual exploration of the ‘pure self’. Upon returning to Istanbul, her practice entered a new chapter of emotional and conceptual depth. In 2023, she welcomed her daughter, an event that further enriched her perspective on identity and human fragility. Currently residing and working in Kadıköy, she continues to expand her multidisciplinary practice. Her latest works integrate her classical painting background with a series of rapid, gestural acrylic portraits that embrace spontaneity and flow. This energetic approach is balanced by her ‘Quiet Faces’ series, introspective oil pastel works on paper created in the serene, meditative hours while her daughter sleeps. She is nowadays maintaining a prolific production schedule that reflects her evolving identity as both a mother and a contemporary artist.

Education;

2001–2010 – BFA, Painting Department, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Istanbul ● 2003–2005 – Engraving workshop, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University
1998–2001 – Fine Arts High School, Painting Department, Avni Akyol Anadolu Fine Arts High School, Istanbul
1991–1997 – Gökdil College, Istanbul

Art Perspective;

In my paintings, space functions as an echo chamber supporting this internal journey. Rather than a mere background, it acts as a symbolic ‘’womb’’ that envelops the figure without judgment, allowing them to breathe. Much like how I view a crack in a wall or a piece of peeling plaster not as a "damaged form" but as the beginning of a new composition, I construct "voids" as an integral part of the meaning. My street works are an instant intervention, a 1-to-5-minute reflex with a marker, responding to the existing urban texture. For me, this is a statement against the elitist and inaccessible vitrines of the art world; it is art as a "background track," left to the flow of life and the beauty of chance encounters.

I consciously avoid taking refuge in the comfort zone of a specific technique or style. My practice oscillates between detailed, realistic oil portraits and raw, free-spirited brushstrokes executed with the courage of a child. I prioritize the sincerity of the momentary impulse and the thought process over the security of a recognizable "brand."

My work also bridges into political and sociological critique. I use dark humor and irony to process themes of manufactured enmity through national identities, border wars, and the urban greed that manifests as ecological destruction. Whether it is a ‘’Will you still love me?’’(Black Einstein) portrait questioning racial marginalization or a child crying because he accidentally hurt himself while trying to shave with a toy excavator ‘’The Shaving Game’ , I interrogate the devastation caused by urban transformation.

Ultimately, my art is the quiet resistance of the individual trying to preserve their essence and inner peace amidst decaying social structures, wars, and the age of speed. I live out this resistance by documenting images drawn from my visual and sensory treasury, sometimes on a canvas, sometimes on a digital screen, and sometimes on a forgotten wall of the city.

Selected Exhibitions (chronological, newest first);

2023 – ‘’Figür’’, curated by Sırma Zaimoğlu, Binevi Sanat Gallery- İstanbul
2022 – ‘’Pareidolia’’ group exhibiton, Labirent Art Gallery- İstanbul
2022 – ‘’Faces and Traces’’, Kadikoy mag curated exhibition, Luna Art Gallery-Istanbul
2020 – ‘’1 Duvar Sergileri’’, curated by Alp Esin, Empire Project @ Artweeks Akaretler- İstanbul
2019 – ‘’Cihannüma’’ group exhibition, İstanbuldogz Art Center -İstanbul ● 2019 – Evin Art Gallery Group Exhibition, Bodrum – Muğla
2019 – ‘’Rastlantısal Beraberlik’’, Altı+1 Art Gallery, Ankara
2019 – Doruk Art Project, ArtAnkara art fair- Ankara
2019 – Group Exhibition, Don Kişot Art Café- İstanbul
2018–2020 – Featured in the national traveling exhibition “100 Artists 100 Portraits” (15+ cities, galleries & museums across Turkey, 2018–2020), I created the portrait of painter Yavuz Tanyeli as part of the project in which each of the 100 selected artists portrayed one prominent Turkish artist.

* 2018 – Derinlikler Sanat merkezi, "Harmonie" mixed exhibition /İstanbul

2018 – ‘’Chrysalis’’, Zeynep Art Gallery, Bodrum
2017 – ‘’Küçük Resmi Görmek’’, Akademililer Art Center- İstanbul
2016 – ‘’Giyilebilir Sanat: Sanat Moda Oldu’’(Wearable Art Became Fashion), Summart Art Center- İstanbul
2013 – ‘’Öyleyse Varım’’, Contemporary Arts Center- Ankara
2011 – Young Artists Exhibition-Harmony Art Gallery, Kuzguncuk – İstanbul
2011 – Group Exhibition, Tetova Gallery- Macedonia
2010–2020 – Tüyap Art Fair group exhibitions- İstanbul

Selected Collaborations;

2024 – Wine Label Design for a boutique wine brand named Tango Wine,
2024 – Cover Artwork for percussionist Güney Güvel from Ayykuka music band
2024 – Official Single Cover Artwork for music band Yüzyüzeyken Konuşuruz – Biriyim (Sony Music Turkey)
2023 – Official Album Cover Artwork for Yüzyüzeyken Konuşuruz – Kader Sokak (Sony Music Turkey)
2023 – Poster & Artwork Design for DJ performances of Singer and musician Mercan Şenel
2022 – Single Cover Design for Alp Yenier & Gözde Öney – Tut Elini
2021 – Album Cover Artwork for Bob Sauler – Dude on a Board
2021 – Single Cover Design for Gözde Öney feat. Jehan Barbur – Aynı Sarhoşluklar

• 2019 – Art Auction Organizer | Community Outreach Project -Initiated and managed a charity art auction as a volunteer to provide essential resources for disadvantaged children attending the Peksimet Children’s Library. Gümüşlük/Muğla

2019 – Synopsis paintings for Tarık Aktaş’s award-winning film Dead Horse Nebula (Best emerging director award- Locarno & Istanbul Film Festival)
2018 – Official Album Cover Artwork for Peyk– Laylaylom

Residencies & Symposiums;

2014 – Füsun Sayek Culture and Health Symposium, Arsuz – Antakya, Hatay
● 2011 – Tetova Art Colony & Group Exhibition, Macedonia
2010 – Kızılcahamam Wood/Metal Sculpture & Painting Symposium, Ankara

Selected Press & Publications;

2021 – Aykırı Sanat magazine interview by Birgül Sevinçli, under the main title: “Violence as the Issue Itself” from the perspective of an artist
2020 – Featured in Art Unlimited (July–August issue), “Artists Living in Bodrum” by Nazlı Pektaş
2020 – Sanatatak Magazine Covid19 Special Art Contest – 3rd Prize with digital work called ‘’Love Mask Robot”
2018 – Akşam Newspaper front-page feature: “The Painter Who Reads the Fortunes of the Walls”, interview by Uygar Taylan
2017 – Maison Française Türkiye Magazine interview
2013-2016– Featured artworks published in Psikeart – Art & Psychology Magazine
2016 – Home Art Magazine interview

Scholarly Contribution / Academic Interview;

• 2025 – Interviewed and featured in the artwork analysis section of Kübra Öksüz’s Master’s Thesis (Identity, Self, and Spatial Interaction in 21st Century Turkish Painting: Portrait), Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Institute of Social Sciences, Painting Department, 2025.

2021 – Master’s thesis work analysis article titled: “Analysis and Interpretations of Ayşe Kapusuz’s Work in terms of Art and Communication Relations” by Burcu Uçar
2019 – Participation in the experimental study section of Sedef Bingöl’s art proficiency thesis, focusing on coincidences and encounters as creative production techniques in the context of visual perception

Teaching Experience;

2022 2022 –Invited by Istanbul Ticaret University to conduct the Creative Cloud Design Workshop for university students
2016–2019 Volunteer visual arts teacher for village children for 4 years at Peksimet çocuk kütüphanesi(Pekder) -Peksimetköy-Bodrum/Muğla
2016 – Instructor, Gymboree Children’s Club @ Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Bodrum
2015–2016 – Volunteer Art Teacher for children and adults with mentally disabilities, ZİBEÇ & Surp Pırgiç Armenian Hospital, Istanbul
2010–2017 – Private Art Lessons for adults and high school entrance preparation students

Selected Press & Publications;

Scholarly Contribution / Academic Interview;

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