AHMET ORAN

Ahmet Oran was born in 1957 in Çanakkale. He studied at the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts between 1977 and 1980, under the guidance of Professor Adnan Çoker. From 1980 to 1986, he studied painting, stained glass, and graphic arts at the Academy of Applied Arts in Vienna under Professor Carl Unger. He graduated from Professor Adolf Frohner’s workshop in 1987. Oran has held numerous solo exhibitions and participated in group exhibitions both in Turkey and abroad. His works have been exhibited in contemporary art museums such as Kunsthalle Bonn, Istanbul Modern, and Lentos Kunstmuseum. He currently lives and works in Istanbul and Vienna.

In his abstract paintings, Oran layers the surface of paper or canvas with fields of color, creating a thick texture. He then tears through this layered paint with spatula marks, revealing grid-like, geometric, or lyrical lines that make the moment of action visible. The network structures he creates continue on adjacent canvases, forming multipart works that appear in a horizontal plane. The scratch marks on the canvas create an effect akin to a wall or an organic object.

Oran’s abstract works do not refer to any objective reality. He reduces painting to its most basic elements: color and form—using bright colors, strong long lines, and thick, smooth bands.