Su Yücel
About
Su Yucel was born in London, in 1961.
She received her first award in 1974 while she was a secondary school student in Turkey, with her work titled “Lunch at the Fields in a contest inaugurated by the Turkish PTT, for stamps and philately. One million copies of the award-winning stamp were printed in the same year.
She entered Strasbourg Beaux-Arts Academy in 1979 and studied under the tutorship of Camile Hirtz, Camile Claus and Sarkis Zabunyan.
In 1984, she participated in the group exhibition at Gallery Mont Charge, Strasbourg. Same year she launched her first solo exhibition in Galata Art Gallery, Istanbul. In 1986 she was invited to Jordan, where she spent six - months. This gave her the opportunity to observe and research and these were reflected in her work. One of her works was permanently exhibited at Petra Bank Gallery, Amman.
In 1987-88 she worked as the art director in two films; respectively, Bir Avuc Gokyuzu directed by Umit Elci and directed by Sureyya Duru.
In 1997 she presented her collected works in an exhibition at Vancouver Fine Art Gallery, Canada. In 1997 she put together a meeting of Paintings and Jazz, with the participation of Can Yucel, Reent Bolukbasi and Ali Peret. Improvising in literature, music and artistic fields represent only one aspect of her experimental works. In 2002 she was awarded the first prize by the Arts Council for the stage design of ‘Can Oyunu’ a play directed by Genco Erkal.
She has participated in several social projects, including joint projects of women from Karaburun, İzmir and Greek Island Lesbos, organized by Women Peace Initiative (WINPEACE) in 2002; and painting classes organized by KAMER with the participation of women in south eastern Anatolia.
The art works produced in these projects were exhibited in Lesbos, Karaburun, Athens, Rhodes, Diyarbakır and Istanbul. The imprint of times she spent together with Aegean and eastern Anatolian women were visible in her exhibition titled Her work titled, The Mediterranean was first
presented at the Barut Hotel lobby in Antalya in 2006 and has since been permanently exhibited.
In 2009, she assisted Karl Kneidl in staging Beethoven's Fidelio at the Augsburg State Opera and Ballet. In the same year, she had a solo exhibition in Das Kunst im Augenblick in Vienna, Austria.
Her recent works have focused on Gypsies. In 2008 she worked with sociologists in the gypsy neighbourhood Sulukule. In 2009 she held workshops for underprivileged women living in the Tarlabaşı neighbourhood in Istanbul in a project supported by Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency. In 2010 her works were exhibited in Izmir and Istanbul.
She is currently producing a series of documentaries for Iz TV on making art in different parts of Turkey.
In 2013, Middle East Technical University awarded artist with Appreciation Prize for her professional achievements and contributions to the country.
She continues working in documentaries and paintings.
Personal exhibitions
1984 Galata Art Gallery, Istanbul
1986 Petra Bank Gallery, Amman-Jordan
1986 Galeri Baraz, Istanbul
1988 Istanbul
1989 Galeri Artisan, 2nd Istanbul Biennial
1990 Galeri Lapis, Cappadocia
1991 Vancouver Fine Art Gallery, Canada
1992 Galata Mevlevihanesi, Istanbul
1993 Galeri Ars, Ankara
1994 French Monastery, Istanbul
1996 Milli Reasurans Art Gallery, Istanbul
1998 Galatea Art Gallery, Istanbul
2000 Garanti Art Gallery, Istanbul
2002 Istanbul
2003 Datca, Mugla
2004 Datca, Mugla
2004 Talisman, Istanbul
2005 French Cultural Center, Istanbul
2005 Hobi Art Gallery, Istanbul
2005 Karsu Art Gallery, Istanbul
2006 Ankara
2008 Almelek Art Gallery, Istanbul
2008 Istanbul
2010 Macka Art Gallery, Istanbul
2011 French Cultural Center, Istanbul
2011 Macka Modern Art Gallery, Istanbul
2013 Sisli Terakki Fondation Art Gallery
2016 Atelier exhibition, Istanbul
2018 Türker Art Gallery, İstanbul
Participated exhibitions
1984 Gallery Mont Charge, Strasbourg
1985 Participated in a Spring Fair Festival, Wachen Supported by European Council General
Secretary
1992 Expo 92 Sevilla, Spain
1995 Sofia, Bulgaria
1997 Athens, Greece
1998 Sydney, Melbourne, Australia
2007 Old Bazaar, İstanbul
2008 Belgium
2010 Mardin Biennial
2018 Türkcell Commubications and Arts at the Galata Greek School
Other projects
1987 Art direction for movie “Bir Avuç Gokyuzu”
1988 Art direction for movie “Ada” by Sureyya Duru
2000 Stage set design of play “Can Oyunu” by Genco Erkal
Awards
2000 Best stage set award for “Can Oyunu” play
2013 Appreciation Award, Middle East Technical University For her Professional achievements and
contributions to the country
