Nilbar Güreş - Sour as a Lemon

Nilbar Güreş (*1977, TUR), who lives and works in Vienna and Istanbul, is one of the most interesting and successful contemporary artists. Her work deals with social questions such as cultural diversity or queer modes of life and highlights the possibilities of an open society. Raising awareness through art of the discourses concerning minorities has a lasting effect. Güreş questions conventional roles of and relationships between the sexes and indicates potentials for strengthening feminine and queer identities. Her artistic practice is based on subtle moments of resistance, whose staging on the margin of the everyday appears quietly radical. Nilbar Güreş’ work is marked by humour and playful irony, revealing a consistent criticism of socio-political conventions. The performative character manifests itself in her photographic and sculptural works, but is also apparent figuratively in her collages and drawings.