Esra Gulmen

Esra Gulmen was born in Istanbul on April 5, 1986. Graduating from Marmara University, Faculty of Fine Arts with a degree in Interior Architecture, the artist continued on as a research fellow and taught design courses. Later on, she moved to Germany and became the art director and designer at advertising agency Ogilvy Frankfurt. For a period of time she worked at Ogilvy’s Amsterdam office. The artist is currently in charge of the design department of advertisement agency Heimat, located in Berlin.

Defining the process of making art as therapy, Gülmen’s works are shaped by human psychology and the tiny struggles and difficulties we all experience in daily life. Through creating impactful sentences using simple language, the artist tackles serious issues such as racism and human rights with her witty humor. She aims to convey her message and the subject matter in a way that is easily understood. Gülmen who likes to use typography as an illustration form, at times visualizes a word or a question for conveying daily struggles. At other times, using an image to tackle the issue at hand, she renders it striking before presenting it to the audience. Prefering to portray her message by blending typography and illustration, Gülmen aims to express both personal and societal notions in a simple yet remarkable way.

Esra Gülmen lives and works in Berlin.

The artist, who has been in many group exhibitions as well as solo ones titled: “Don’t I look Turkish?”, X BOLD (Berlin); “It’s just OK’, XH Cube x Markenfilm Crossing (Hamburg); “Thirteen”, Cafe Struik (Amsterdam), has been named among the world’s best 200 illustrators in Lürzer’s Archive Magazine a total of four times.