Contemporary film and video artist Ergin Çavuşoğlu (b. 1968, Bulgaria), studied at The National School of Fine Arts ‘Iliya Petrov’, Sofia, in the early 1980s and consequently received a BA from the University of Marmara, Istanbul, an MA from Goldsmiths, University of London, and a PhD from University of Portsmouth.
Central to Çavuşoğlu’s conceptual practice are themes exploring notions of place, liminality and the conditions of cultural production. His films and installations - and therefrom originating sculptures and drawings - explore post-migration, geographies and informal architecture, through which Çavuşoğlu examines themes ranging from literature and theatre to the iconic works of such artists and writers like Marcel Duchamp, Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov and Italo Calvino.
Çavuşoğlu: “The pattern of literary references in (my) large-scale narrative installation works unfold a series of moral parables that have a hypothetical relevance to contemporary art and furthermore comment on the creative processes at large.”
Ergin Çavuşoğlu’s has had numerous solo exhibitions, including Cinefication (Tarot and Chess), Extra City Kunsthal, Antwerp, 2013; Alterity, RAMPA, Istanbul, 2011; Dust Breeding, The Pavilion Downtown Dubai, UAE, 2011; Ergin Çavuşoğlu, Zilkha Auditorium, Whitechapel Gallery, London, 2011; Ergin Çavuşoğlu - Crystal & Flame, PEER, London, 2010; Ergin Çavuşoğlu, Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen (2009), Ergin Çavuşoğlu, Haunch of Venison, London, 2009; Quintet Without Borders, Best of Discovery, ShContemporary, Shanghai, 2008; , Kunstverein Freiburg, 2008; and Quintet Without Borders, Haunch of Venison, Zurich, 2007. Çavuşoğlu represented Turkey at the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003 and was shortlisted for the Beck’s Futures Prize, 2004; most recently he was nominated for the UK art prize Artes Mundi 4, 2010.
Ergin Çavuşoğlu lives and works in London.
