Sarkis Will Represent Turkey at 56th Venice Biennale

The Turkish-born, Armenian artist Sarkis Zabunyan, known as Sarkis, has been chosen to represent Turkey at the next Venice Biennale.

The artist, who has lived in France since 1964, will present a large-scale installation in the Turkish Pavilion, curated this year by Defne Ayas, the director of the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art in Rotterdam.

The pavilion is to be located in a new space in the Arsenale, recently secured by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) for a period of 20 years.

Sarkis has been widely exhibited throughout his career, in institutions including the Centre George Pompidou, MAMCO, Museum of Contemporary Art (Geneva) and Istanbul Modern.

He was part Harald Szeeman’s legendary exhibition When Attitudes Become Form: Works – Concepts – Processes – Situation – Information at the Bern Kunsthalle in 1969. In 2013, he also took part in Germano Celant’s remake of the show, held at the Prada Foundation in Venice.

The 56th Venice Biennale will open on May 9, 2015 and will be curated by the director of Munich’s Haus der Kunst, Okwui Enwezor.