Yeşim Akdeniz

Yeşim Akdeniz (b. 1978, İzmir) develops artistic research focused on Orientalism, gender and queer studies, and cultural appropriation. Her practice, is characterised by symbolic narratives that can be read as signs of cultural production, negotiation and appropriation. In her most recent works, autobiographical elements intertwine with historical and artistic narratives, raising questions about the formation of identity and the ways in which objects and representations reflect political structures. Akdeniz's work thus becomes a space in which to question social and cultural attributions and the role of subjectivity in the construction of meaning.

Yeşim Akdeniz studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, after her family relocated to Germany in 1996. Following her graduation, she was accepted at De Ateliers, Amsterdam, where she studied from 2002 to 2004. Yeşim Akdeniz was awarded the Buning Brongers Prize in 2004 and the Peter Mertes Stipendium in 2005. Her work has been exhibited in institutions such as the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Kunstverein Frankfurt; Sammlung Philara, Düsseldorf; Kunstverein Bielefeld; MAK Museum, Vienna; Kunsthal Mechelen; Guggenheim Gallery, Los Angeles, and Pakt Foundation, Amsterdam, among others.

The artist currently lives and works between Brussels and Düsseldorf.