Ergin Çavuşoğlu
Ergin Çavuşoğlu (born Bulgaria, 1968) currently lives and works in London, UK.
He received a BA from the University of Marmara (Istanbul, Turkey) in 1994, an MA from Goldsmiths, University of London (London, UK) in 1995, and a PhD from the University of Portsmouth (Portsmouth, UK) in 2009.
Çavuşoğlu was shortlisted for the Artes Mundi 4 (Cardiff, UK) in 2010 and Beck’s Futures prize (London, UK) in 2004.
He was included in the First Kyiv International Biennal of contemporary art – ARSENALE 2012 (Kiev, Ukraine) in 2012, represented Turkey at the 50th International Art Exhibition, la Biennale di Venezia (Venice, Italy) in 2003, and was included in the 8th Istanbul Biennial (Istanbul, Turkey), also in 2003.
Çavuşoğlu has had solo exhibitions at PEER (London, UK) in 2012, The Pavilion Downtown Dubai (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) in 2011, and at Dundee Contemporary Arts (Dundee, Scotland) in 2004.
He has been included in group exhibitions at the Whitechapel Gallery (London, UK) in 2011, the Center for Arts and Media (ZKM) (Karlsruhe, Germany) in 2010, and the Institute of Contemporary Arts (London, UK) in 2007.
His work is included in the collections of Fonds régional d’art contemporain Alsace, Agence culturelle d’Alsace (Sélestat, France), Istanbul Museum of Modern Art (Istanbul, Turkey), and Sammlung Goetz (Munich, Germany).
“Central to my practice are broader concepts that probe the notions of space, non-place, liminality and the conditions of cultural production, which I have been exploring in a diversity of media.
The work I produced for films4peace, reflects on the complexities of the human subconscious and the struggle for inner peace. Contextually, the scene echoes the final dream sequence in Leo Tolstoy’s A Confession. The book was written at a turning point of the author’s life, when he was seeking to understand the meaning of life and its moral values, consulting philosophical, religious and scientific texts in the process. In the dream, Tolstoy sees his body entangled in wires lying on a bed that is hanging, suspended in what Tolstoy defines as ‘infinite space’. The inner struggle and helplessness push him to resist the gravitational force of the suspense.”