About the artist:

Burhan Dogançay is primarily known for a body of work that grew out of his fascination with urban walls; they have a special meaning to him and it is that observation that he transformed into art. Walls serve as a testament to the passage of time, reflecting social, political and economic change. They also bear witness to the assault of the elements and to the markings left by people. No other artist has explored urban walls as thoroughly and passionately as Dogançay. Burhan Dogancay is an unconventional artist who played an important role in the development of the 1960s American art scene. Keeping his promise to his father, he studies law at the University of Ankara an d painting must remain just an enjoyable pastime. After graduating he moved to Paris to study economics. In the Parisian whirlwind of the 1950s he spends his time in the company of artists and attending the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere. Charmed by his bohemian milieu he takes part in many of its exhibitions. In 1962, his work took him to New York and he developed a personal style and found great inspiration for his work to follow. In the early 1970s Dogancay organized his paintings graphically with flatter areas and brighter colors. Dogacay is the recipient of many awards and his works are included in the permanent colelctions of the world's most prominent museums. The Dogancay Museum, Istanbul, which opened in 2004, is Turkey’s first contemporary art museum. It provides a general overview of a small portion of Dogançay’s prolific oeuvre. This mini-retrospective spans five decades of Dogançay’s artistic evolution starting with his early figurative paintings up to his wall-inspired works as well as photographs. Selected One-Man Museum Exhibitions: 1982: Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (Les murs murmurent, ils crient, ils chantent…) 1982: Le Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels (Les murs murmurent, ils crient, ils chantent…) 1983: Musee d’Art Contemporain, Montreal ((Les murs murmurent, ils crient, ils chantent…) 1989: Seibu Museum –Yurakucho Art Forum, Tokyo 1992: State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg (Walls & Doors 1990-91) 2001: Dolmabahce Cultural Center, Istanbul (Retrospective) 2001: Kennedy Museum of Art, Athens, OH (Dogançay – Wall Paintings) 2003: Siegerlandmuseum, Siegen (Walls of the World) 2008: Pera Museum, Istanbul (Collage-Decollage /Dogançay -Villegle) 2009: CentrePasquArt, Biel (Collage-Decollage/ Dogançay -Villegle) Selected Museum Collections: Benaki Museum, Athens Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris Centre PasquArt, Biel, Switzerland Dogançay Museum, Istanbul Fotomuseum Winterthur, Winthertur, Switzerland Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna Graphische Sammlung ETH, Zurich Istanbul Modern, Istanbul John & Mable Ringling Museum, Sarasota, Fla. Kennedy Museum of Art, Athens, OH Kunsthaus Zurich, Zurich Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark Moderna Museet, Stockholm MoMA, New York MuMoK Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna Musee de Grenoble, Grenoble Museet for Fotokunst, Odense, Denmark National Gallery of Artm Wahsington, D.C. Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum, Aalborg, Denmark Palm Springs Art Museum, Palmsprings, Cal. Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin Staatliche Sammlungen Dresden, Dresden Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah, Ga. The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York The Newark Museum, Newark, NJ The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH University of Michigan Museum of Art, Michigan, Ann Arbor Publications: Blanchebarbe, Ursula. Walls of the World. Bielefeld: Kerber Verlag, 2003 Lascault, Gilbert. Dessine-Moi l’Amour. Paris: Syros-Alternatives, 1992 Lopate, Phillip. Bridge of Dreams. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1999 Moyer, Roy (ed.). Dogancay. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1986 Taylor, Brandon. Urban Walls: A Generation of Collage in Europe & America.. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 2008 Vine, Richard. Burhan Dogançay: Works on Paper 1950-2000. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 2003