Batman, Türkiye, 1966
Ahmet Güneştekin’s abstract and conceptual works, spanning a variety of mediums, including painting, sculpture, video, and installation, address the politics of memory, languages of oppression, and forms of resistance through intricate structures and forms. Characterized by the unexpected use of formal and visual elements, his compositions feature layers of meaning to suggest alternative modes of seeing. Early childhood experiences with dengbêjs sonic spheres influenced his understanding of translating and incorporating mythologies into his works. Over a decade of ethnographic research, he has delved into language and oral culture, tracing his childhood images and voices as a memory space. In his first atelier in Beyoğlu, he discovered an artistic language that deviates from the conventional relationship between material and form, borrowing from mythologies. His exhibition Encounter earned him recognition in the Istanbul art scene in 2012, and a year later, he was introduced to international audiences in Venice with his video installations that were acts of counter-memory through forms of artistic recollection.
