Born Ankara, Turkiye
Ilknur Demirkoparan’s work is characterized by biomorphic forms that coalesce into intricate patterns, like the wings of butterflies or the stars in the night sky. Her palette is often monochromatic, with rich, saturated blacks set against vast color fields. Demirkoparan’s interest in Turkish material culture and mysticism informs her work, resulting in beguiling compositions that possess an almost talismanic allure, beckoning for quiet contemplation within their enigmatic presence.
Demirkoparan’s work has been included in the Berlin Biennial Art Wiki Project (2012), Highways Performance Space and Gallery in Los Angeles (2013 & 2016), FAR Bazaar (2017), Mark Borghi Fine Art, NY (2022). She has an MFA from California Institute of the Arts, and a BA from University of California, Riverside. Her awards include the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Max H. Gluck Foundation fellowships, and the Regional Arts and Culture Council grant. Demirkoparan is the cofounder of the MinEastry of Postcollapse Art and Culture, an art and research space dedicated to rethinking our contemporary moment since the fall of the Berlin Wall. She currently lives and works in Zurich, Switzerland.
Education
2006 — MFA, California Institute of the Arts. Valencia, CA, USA
2024 — BA, University of California, Riverside. Riverside, CA, USA
AWARDS & RESIDENCIES
2021 — Grant. Regional Arts and Culture Council. Portland, OR, USA
2019 — Residency. ChaNorth. Pine Plains, NY, USA
2020 — Residency. GlogauAIR. Berlin, DE
Exhibitions
2023 — TRYST! Torrence Art Museum. Los Angeles, CA, USA
2023 — Play. MinEastry of Postcollapse Art & Culture. Zurich, CH
2022 — January Group Show: Abstract Selections From 7 Artists. Mark Borghi Fine Art. Sag Harbor. NY, USA
2022 — Abstract Monochrome Figures. Mark Borghi Fine Art. Sag Harbor, NY, USA
2022 — Three Women Walk into a Gallery. Mark Borghi Fine Art. Sag Harbor, NY, USA
2022 — Artists and Poems: Istanbul. Suturo.com. Curated by Gul Cagin
2022 — Hoscakal, Portland. MinEastry of Postcollapse Art and Culture. Portland, OR, USA
2021 — (Un)Natural Boundaries and Borders. Silverwood Park Gallery, St Anthony, MN (curated by Katayoun Amcadi)
ACTIVITIES
2023 — Panel Presentation at ASAP/14: Arts of Fugitivity. University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
2021 — Panel Presentation: “A Practice in Three Parts.” Panel: New Migrancies: Spatial Continuity as Creative Connection. ASAP/12: RECIPROCITY. The Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present 12th Annual Conference. Virtual. New York, USA.
2020 — Panel Presentation: “Collapsing the East/West False Dichotomy: Art as Intervention.” Panel: The MinEastry of Postcollapse Art and Culture: Contemporary Artists and Cultural Workers Networked for Resilience Beyond the Anthropocene. College Art Association 109th Annual Conference. New York, NY.
2019 — Artist Talk, Pine Plains Library, Pine Plains, NY, USA
2019 — Artist Talk with Arzu Arda Kosar and Gul Cagin, The Evergreen State College, WA, USA
PUBLICATIONS
“Demirkoparan, Ilknur & Katsanis, Vuslat D. “The Postcollapse Manifesto.” Flat Journal, UCLA Department of Design Media Arts and the UCLA Arts Conditional Studio. 2023.
“The Postcollapse Life: A Conversation on Creative Resilience Beyond the Anthropocene,” with Ilknur Demirkoparan, Vuslat D. Katsanis, and Mirela Kulovic. Antennae: The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture. Issue 57, Beyond Post-Humanism. March, 2022. (link)
“How I Arrived Here: An Artist’s Essay, Or A Long-winded Artist’s Statement, Or Possibly Both” Journal of the Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present (ASAP/j). Special Issue on Postcollapse Art: Contemporary Art in ‘the East’ since 1989. Johns Hopkins University Press. December 2021.