Mut­lu Çerkez

Born Lon­don, Unit­ed King­dom 1964

Died Mel­bourne, Aus­tralia, 2005

Mut­lu Çerkez was a con­cep­tu­al artist whose prac­tice explored its own tem­po­ral­i­ty and sought to cre­ate a con­ver­sa­tion between past actions and future sce­nar­ios. Each new work was ascribed a future date on which he intend­ed to remake the work.

Work­ing in a range of medi­ums includ­ing print­mak­ing, paint­ing and sculp­tur­al instal­la­tions, Çerkez employed abstract designs and apho­ris­tic sym­bols to expound upon time and real­i­ty and build upon the con­ver­sa­tion between past actions and future scenarios.

Born in Lon­don, in 1964, he and his Turk­ish Cypri­ot par­ents immi­grat­ed to Aus­tralia lat­er that same year. The artist’s rep­u­ta­tion quick­ly grew from sup­port in Aus­tralia and New Zealand, to being inter­na­tion­al­ly renowned. In 2005, Çerkez passed away in his Mel­bourne home.

Select­ed exhi­bi­tions include Mut­lu Çerkez: 1988 – 2065, Monash Uni­ver­si­ty Muse­um of Art, Mel­bourne (2018); Self-con­scious­ness: Con­tem­po­rary Por­trai­ture, Monash Uni­ver­si­ty Muse­um of Art, Mel­bourne (2012); Net­works (cells and silos), Monash Uni­ver­si­ty Muse­um of Art, Mel­bourne (2011); Mut­lu Çerkez, Istan­bul (2006); New05, ACCA, Mel­bourne, 2005; 2^nd Auck­land Tri­en­nal, Auck­land (2004); and Field­work Aus­tralian Art 1968 – 2002, Nation­al Gallery of Vic­to­ria, Mel­bourne (2002); Select­ed Works from an Unwrit­ten Opera, Muse­um of Con­tem­po­rary Art, Helsin­ki (2000); Audi­tions for an Unwrit­ten Opera, Art­space, Syd­ney (2000); 6^th Istan­bul Bien­ni­al, Turkey (1999); Sao Pao­lo Bien­nale, Brazil (1998); and Aus­tralian Cen­tre for Pho­tog­ra­phy, Syd­ney (1988).

Select­ed pub­lic col­lec­tions include the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Syd­ney; Hei­de Muse­um of Mod­ern Art, Mel­bourne; Nation­al Gallery of Vic­to­ria, Mel­bourne; Kias­ma, Muse­um of Con­tem­po­rary Art, Helsin­ki; Nation­al Gallery of Aus­tralia, Can­ber­ra; and Art Gallery of West­ern Aus­tralia, Perth.

CV

Bib­li­og­ra­phy