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 obseravtion 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 with the same passion Dogançay has. His persistent occupation with and translation of urban walls into art is what earned him a reputation as “father of wall art”. The opening in 2004 of the Dogançay Museum, Turkey’s first contemporary art museum, constituted the crowning of Dogançay’s career. He lives and works in New York where he has maintained a studio for the past 40 years.

Place & Date of Birth: Istanbul, Turkey, 1929

Education: First art lessons were given by his father, the well-known painter, Adil Dogancay, and Arif Kaptan, also a well-known Turkish painter.
1950: Law Degree: University of Ankara, Turkey
1950-55: Attends courses at L’Académie de la Grande Chaumiere, Paris
1953: Doctorate in economics: University of Paris, France

Selected One-Man Exhibitions:
1956-59: Art Lovers Club, Ankara
1964: Ward Eggleston Galleries, New York (Watercolors)
1976: Gallery Baraz, Istanbul
1977: Kunstsalon Wolfsberg, Zurich
1977: Gallery Engstrom,Stockholm
1978: Gimpel & Weitzenhoffer Gallery, New York
1981: Foster Harmon Galleries, Sarasota, Florida
1982: Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (Les Murs murmurent)
1982: Baukunst-Gallerie, Cologne
1983: Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels (Les Murs murmurent)
1983: Musée d’Art Contemporain, Montreal (Les Murs murmurent)
1987: Hamideh Bayley Gallery, New York (Two Decades of Walls)
1987: Gallery Nev, Istanbul
1989: Seibu Museum of Art-Yurakucho Art Forum, Tokyo
1990: Galerie du Génie, Paris
1990: Gallery Torso, Odense, Denmark
1992: State Russian Museum, St.Petersburg (Walls & Doors 1990-91)
1993: Atatürk Cultural Center, Istanbul (Walls 1990-93)
1994: Nicholas Alexander Gallery, New York (Doors & Walls)
1996: Hooks-Epstein Galleries, Houston (New York-New Heights)
1999: Radio House Gallery, New York (The Rebirth of the Brooklyn Bridge)
2001: Dolmabahçe Cultural Center, Istanbul (A Retrospective)
2001: Kennedy Museum of Art, Athens, Ohio (Dogançay-Wall Paintings from the Museum collection)
2003: Siegerlandmuseum, Siegen (Walls of the World)
2005: Institut Français d’Istanbul (Tapisseries d’Aubusson)

Selected Group Exhibitions:
1965: Solomon R.Guggenheim Museum, New York (Some Recent Gifts)
1970: Finch College Museum of Art (Artists at Work)
1972: Pace Gallery (Printmakers at Pace)
1975: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (Recent Acquisitions)
1977: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (From the American Collection)
1991: Lehman College Art Gallery (Collage: New Applications)
1999: The Museum of the City of New York (The New York Century)
2000: Marburger Universitaetsmuseum, Maburg (Kunst der Gegenwart: 1975-2000)
2004: Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah, Ga. (New on View: Recent Acquisitions to the Permanent Collection)
2001: Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY (Outside In)
2005: Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York (Looking at Words)

Selected Museum Collections:
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, Canada
Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Council of Europe, Strasbourg
European Parliament, Brussels
Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, Norman, Okl.
Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis
Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna
John & Mable Ringling Museum, Sarasota, Fla.
Kennedy Museum of Art, Athens, Ohio
Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark
MoMA, New York
Musée de Grenoble, Grenoble
Museet for Fotokunst, Odense, Denmark
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C
Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum, Aalborg, Denmark .
Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, Cal.
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, Russia
Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH
University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Awards & Fellowships:
2005 - Contribution to the Arts Award given by the International Contemporary Art Exposition, Istanbul
- Art Honor Award given by the Art Forum Plastic Arts Fair, Ankara
2004 - Honorary doctorate from Hacettepe University, Ankara
- Painter of the Year Award given by Sanat Kurumu, Ankara
1995 - National Medal for the Arts for Lifetime Achievement & Cultural Contribution given by the President of the Republic of Turkey
1992 - Medal of Appreciation given by the Ministry of Culture of Russia
1984 - Enka Arts Arts & Science Award, Istanbul
1969 - Tamarind Lithography Workshop Fellowship, Los Angeles
1964 - Certificate of Appreciation by the City of New York

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.). Dogançay. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1986
Rona, Z. (ed.). Dogançay: A Retrospective. Istanbul: Duran Editions, 2001
Vine, Richard. Burhan Dogançay: Works on Paper 1950-2000. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 2003

-Courtesy of Burhan Cahit Dogançay

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