Biography

Berk Günay

b. 1997 ::: Lives and works in Istanbul, Turkey

@kami_bey

Berk Günay (b. 1997, Istanbul) is a visual artist based in Istanbul, Turkey. He received his BFA in Painting from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in 2022. Working primarily with oil paint and sculptural washi paper forms, his practice moves between figuration and abstraction, exploring memory, bodily perception, the subconscious, and unstable experiences of time and presence.

His work has been exhibited at Anna Laudel in Istanbul and Era Contemporary in Pennsylvania, with a forthcoming exhibition at CICA Vancouver. Günay received First Place in the Young Artist category of the 8th Boynes Artist Award and was selected as a finalist in the 17th ARC Salon.

Artist Statement

My practice explores the unstable relationship between the body, memory, and perception. Working primarily with oil paint and sculptural washi paper forms, I create images that move between figuration and abstraction, where recognizable forms dissolve into ambiguous spaces. Rather than documenting specific events, I reconstruct fragmented memories and emotional states, allowing subconscious experiences to emerge through shifting atmospheres and fragile material structures.

Living with a chronic heart condition has shaped my awareness of bodily vulnerability and the instability of time and presence, although these experiences are transformed rather than represented literally. Calligraphy enters my practice through movement and form rather than written language. Lines and dispersing structures appear like traces of thought or memory, connecting and interrupting recognizable images while remaining between gesture, sign, and image.

Washi paper gives physical form to this process of emergence. Built into layered, sculptural forms, it suggests subconscious images gradually pressing toward the surface, remaining partly revealed and partly concealed. These forms continue the calligraphic movement of the paintings while disrupting the boundary between image and object. Through the interaction of paint, paper, and layered forms, I create uncanny spaces in which recognition remains unstable and inner experience gradually surfaces into visible reality.

Cirriculum Vitae

EDUCATION

2016-2022 | Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting, Mimar Sinan Fine

Art University, Turkey

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023 | “5.1 An Atelier Exhibition”, Karşı Sanat Çalışmaları Gallery’s,

Istanbul,Turkey

2024 |“Titania’s Ball”, Era Contemporary, PA, USA

2026 | "Zeitgeist", Anna Laudel Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey

AWARDS, PRESS

2014 |15 April World Art Day National Painting Competition (Marmara University) 3rd place

2023 Boynes Artist Award 8th Edition 1st. Place Winner Young Artist Category

2023 CFA Artist of the Month Contest, Finalist

2024 17th ARC Salon Finalists