CURATED: ESRA GÜLMEN

Inspired by everyday life struggles, Esra Gülmen's artworks always feel relatable and raise questions about emotions, habits, and ways to love and be loved. Through blending typography and illustration and embracing the visual power of words, she creates her very own world with a less-is-more mindset. A contemporary commentary characterised by simple language, witty humour, and the desire to understand and touch people.

As a member of ADC Germany, Gülmen has been selected four times in a row as one of the ‘200 Best Illustrators Worldwide’ by Lürzer’s Archive Magazine and was invited as a speaker to various festivals such as OFFF Festival, Forward Festival and Pictoplasma Festival. Moreover, she has been sitting on the jury of various design awards including Cannes Lions, One Show and Eurobest. Besides numerous group shows, she has opened solo exhibitions in Amsterdam, Hamburg, Berlin and Istanbul. Gülmen is represented by gallery Pilevneli in Istanbul.



Having studied interior design and having had a career as a designer and creative director in international companies, Esra Gülmen as an artist, seeks to expand the definition of drawing, and redefines the medium while recalling caligrammes of the beginning of the twentieth century.

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After graduating from Marmara University Faculty of Fine Arts with a degree in Interior Design, Esra Gülmen worked as an academic for three years teaching basic design at the same department. Over the years, she established herself as a Design Executive Officer for Europe’s acclaimed advertising agency Ogilvy Germany and as Head of Design at Heimat Berlin before dedicating herself to art. 
Esra Gülmen seeks to broaden the meaning of drawing and reinterpret the art form while reminiscing about the "calligrammes" of the early 20th century and responding to them with discourses about the realities of her own century and current movements, popular culture, and activism. She combines numerous daily life senses utilizing language that was recognizable until she used it as a medium, employing everyday objects, paper works, and wearable items. It is always fascinating to observe how she connects a word or a picture to another. The benefit of these typographic creations is that they give life to a visual identity that discusses value, materialism, and consumerism. The viewer is given the opportunity to read and demand her or his own thinking or drawing through the author's words that reflect her images or vice versa. Esra Gülmen also invites us to participate in an experimental study on the psychology of reading and picture perception so that we can decide for ourselves whether or not watching and reading are processes that are more mutually exclusive.

Title

The Brilliant Questions I Got Asked Because I’m Turkish #3 “Do Women Have to Wear a Hijab in Turkey?“

Option

Yesterday's Feelings

After graduating from Marmara University Faculty of Fine Arts with a degree in Interior Design, Esra Gülmen worked as an academic for three years teaching basic design at the same department. Over the years, she established herself as a Design Executive Officer for Europe’s acclaimed advertising agency Ogilvy Germany and as Head of Design at Heimat Berlin before dedicating herself to art. 
Esra Gülmen seeks to broaden the meaning of drawing and reinterpret the art form while reminiscing about the "calligrammes" of the early 20th century and responding to them with discourses about the realities of her own century and current movements, popular culture, and activism. She combines numerous daily life senses utilizing language that was recognizable until she used it as a medium, employing everyday objects, paper works, and wearable items. It is always fascinating to observe how she connects a word or a picture to another. The benefit of these typographic creations is that they give life to a visual identity that discusses value, materialism, and consumerism. The viewer is given the opportunity to read and demand her or his own thinking or drawing through the author's words that reflect her images or vice versa. Esra Gülmen also invites us to participate in an experimental study on the psychology of reading and picture perception so that we can decide for ourselves whether or not watching and reading are processes that are more mutually exclusive.

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ESRA GÜLMEN

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