Cevdet Erek (born 1974) is a Turkish visual artist and musician living and working in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Turkey. He is known for combining sound, rhythm and architecture to create installations, videos, objects and performances characterized by site specificity. Cevdet Erek was the recipient of the Nam Jun Paik Award in 2012 and represented Turkey at the 57th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia in 2017.

Education

Erek studied architecture at

Mimar Sinan University Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University (, or MSGSÜ) is a public university, public Art school, art university in Istanbul, Turkey. The university's campus is located in the Fındıklı, Beyoğlu, Fındıklı, Beyoğlu. The university was established ...

of Fine Arts, while working at various architectural practices as well as acting as the drummer for the music band Nekropsi. He left the master's program he had started at MSU for

Istanbul Technical University Istanbul Technical University, also known as Technical University of Istanbul (, commonly referred to as İTÜ), is an public university, public technical university located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the world's third-oldest technical university ...

's Center for Advanced Studies in Music (MIAM), where he studied Sound Engineering and Design and worked as a research assistant from 2002 to 2011. Erek was an artist in residence at

Rijksakademie The Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten (State Academy of Fine Arts) was founded in 1870 in Amsterdam. It is a classical academy, a place where philosophers, academics and artists meet to test and exchange ideas and knowledge. The school supports ...

in Amsterdam between 2005 and 2006.

Works and exhibitions

Erek participated in

dOCUMENTA (13) Documenta 13 (stylised as dOCUMENTA (13)) was the thirteenth edition of the German contemporary art exhibition Documenta. It took place between 9 June until 16 September 2012 in Kassel, Germany. The exhibition was held under the theme "collap ...

curated by

Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev (born December 2, 1957) is an Italian-American writer, art historian, and exhibition maker who served as the Director of Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea in Turin in 2009 and from 2016 to 2023. She was al ...

in 2012 with "Raum der Rhythmen" oom of Rhythms an experiential installation composed of sound, objects architectural elements exploring rhythm, and measurement in our relationship to time and space. Variations of the same installation were shown under the titles "Room of Rhythms - Curva" at

MAXXI MAXXI (, 'national museum of 21st-century arts') is a national museum of contemporary art and architecture in the Flaminio neighborhood of Rome, Italy. The museum is managed by a foundation created by the Italian Ministry of Culture. The buildi ...

in Rome as part of the exhibition "Open Museum Open City]” (2014) and “A Room of Rhythms - Otopark” in the 14th

Istanbul Biennial The Istanbul Biennial is a contemporary art exhibition that has been held biennially in Istanbul, Turkey, since 1987. The Biennial has been organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) since its inception. Istanbul Biennial p ...

(2015). Variations of the “Courtyard Ornamentation” series were shown in 11th

Sharjah Biennial The Sharjah Biennial is a large-scale contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in the city of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The first Sharjah Biennial took place in 1993, and was organized by the Sharjah Department of Cu ...

(2013), then in the 6th Marrakech Bienniale (2016). "Rulers and Rhythm Studies" which were originally created for "Room of Rhtyhms" were presented in the

Stedelijk Museum The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

collection in Amsterdam as well as the 12th

(2011) and 7th

Asia Pacific Triennial The Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) is an art museum located within the Queensland Cultural Centre in the South Bank precinct of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The gallery is part of QAGOMA. Opened on 2 December 2006, the GOMA is Australia's l ...

of Contemporary Art in Brisbane, Australia (2022). In 2019 Erek created "Bergama Stereo", an architectural installation with sound, referencing the form and historically attributed functions of the displaced

Pergamon Altar The Pergamon Altar () was a monumental construction built during the reign of the Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek King Eumenes II of the Kingdom of Pergamon, Pergamon Empire in the first half of the 2nd century BC on one of the terraces of the ac ...

. The installation was co-produced by, and exhibited at the 5th

Ruhrtriennale The Ruhrtriennale ( compound of ''Ruhr'' and ''triennale'' "lasting 3 years"), also known as Ruhr Triennale, was founded in 2002 and is a music and arts festival in the Ruhr-area of Germany which runs between mid-August and mid-October, and happen ...

(2019),

Hamburger Bahnhof Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart is the former Train station#Terminus, terminus of the Berlin–Hamburg Railway in Berlin, Germany, on Invalidenstrasse in the Moabit district opposite the Charité hospital. Today it serves as ...

(2019) and Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (2020). Iterations of the installation were also shown at Arter, Istanbul (2020) and the

Singapore Biennale The Singapore Biennale is a large-scale biennial contemporary art exhibition in Singapore, serving as the country’s major platform for international dialogue in contemporary art. It seeks to present and reflect the vigour of artistic practices in ...

(2022). Institutional solo exhibitions of Cevdet Erek's work were organized at the

Kunsthalle Basel Kunsthalle Basel is a contemporary art gallery in Basel, Switzerland. As Switzerland's oldest and still most active institution for contemporary art established in the year of 1872, Kunsthalle Basel forms a vital part of Basel's cultural centre ...

, Switzerland, in 2012, Spike Island in Bristol, UK, in 2014, MhKA Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp and Lydgalleriet, Bergen in 2018.

Musical career

Cevdet Erek has been the drummer of the progressive rock band Nekropsi since the early 1990s. Their first album "Mi Kubbesi" was released in 1996 by Ada Müzik. Together with the band, Erek has released 4 albums and numerous singles and EPS between 1996 and 2020. His first solo album "Davul" was released in 2017 from subtext. Erek was responsible for the sound and music direction for

Kaan Müjdeci Kaan Müjdeci (born 24 September 1980) is a screenwriter and film director. He is the winner of Special Jury Prize (Venice Film Festival), Special Jury Prize at the 71st Venice International Film Festival with his debut feature ''Sivas (film), Siv ...

's feature-length film “Sivas” which won the Special Jury Prize at the 71st

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

(2014) and music and sound co-design (with Cenker Kökten) for Emin Alper's feature-length film “ Abluka /

Frenzy ''Frenzy'' is a 1972 British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It is the penultimate feature film of his extensive career. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer is based on the 1966 novel '' Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square ...

” which won the Special Jury Prize at the

72nd Venice Film Festival The 72nd annual Venice International Film Festival, was held from 2 to 12 September 2015, at Venice Lido in Italy. Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón was the jury president for the main competition. French-Italian actress Elisa Sednaoui hosted ...

(2015). Erek designed and realised sound installations for Turkish novelist

Orhan Pamuk Ferit Orhan Pamuk (born 7 June 1952; ) is a Turkish novelist, screenwriter, academic, and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. One of Turkey's most prominent novelists, he has sold over 13 million books in 63 languages, making him ...

's Museum of Innocence which was opened in Çukurcuma neighbourhood of

Beyoğlu Beyoğlu (; ) is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 9 km2, and its population is 225,920 (2022). It is on the European side of Istanbul, Turkey, separated from the o ...

in 2011.

Publications

* "Cevdet Erek - Less Empty Maybe / Az Boş Belki, Ed.

Süreyyya Evren Süreyyya Evren is a Turkish postanarchist writer and cultural theorist. Publications Novels *''Postmodern Bir Kız Sevdim'' (''I Loved A Postmodern Girl'', 1993) *''Yaşayıp Ölmek Aşk ve Avarelik Üzerine Kısa Bir Roman'' (''A Short No ...

, Revolver, 2015 * "Cevdet Erek - Room of Rhythms 1", Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther Konig, 2012 * "SSS - Sahil Sahnesi Sesi / Shore Scene Soundtrack -Themes and Variations for Carpet", Cevdet Erek, Sternberg Press, 2017 (2009)

Teaching

Cevdet Erek co-taught architectural design studio with Arda İnceoğlu at the School of Architecture at Istanbul Technical University between 2011 and 2013 and is an

Associate Professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

at the Music Technology Department of

References

External links

Official website

Selection of sounds & videos of installations, accompanying the book Az Bos Belki / Less Empty Maybe

Nekropsi website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Erek, Cevdet Turkish contemporary artists Turkish musicians 1974 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University alumni Istanbul Technical University alumni