ST IVES.- This autumn, Tate St Ives presents new work by Turkish artist Ahmet Doğu İpek, developed during his 2025 residency at Porthmeor Studios. His practice consists mainly of watercolour, ink and charcoal works on paper, created through a detailed and meditative process. His work often explores the relationship between the built environment and nature, using repetition and pattern to reflect organic forms.
İpeks process involves meticulous mark-making, layering and repetition, creating compositions that shift between abstraction and representation. His use of monochrome palettes and fine detail brings attention to subtle variations in light, texture and movement. He frequently explores themes of transformation, endurance and the impact of time on materials, drawing inspiration from natural processes and human-made constructions.
This exhibition is part of the fourth collaborative iteration of the Artist Residency and Commissions Programme between Tate St Ives and SAHA, which to date has supported artists including Burçak Bingöl, Hera Büyüktaşcıyan, and Cansu Çakar. Following a studio visit by Tate St Ives Director Anne Barlow in December 2024, İpek was invited to the 2025 residency programme in St Ives to develop new work. His residency and exhibition continue a programme designed to foster artistic exchange and research between St Ives and Turkey.
Ahmet Doğu İpek is commissioned by Tate St Ives, and curated by Anne Barlow, Director, Tate St Ives with Assistant Curator Dara McElligott.
Ahmet Doğu İpek (1983, Adıyaman) graduated from the Atatürk University Faculty of Education, Painting Department. He has had solo shows at Arter (Istanbul, 2022), Galeri Nev İstanbul (2019), and Galata Greek School (2017). He has also participated in numerous group exhibitions including at Museum Morsbroich (Leverkusen, 2024), Istanbul Modern (Istanbul, 2024), Zeyrek Çinili Hamam (Istanbul, 2023), Arter (Istanbul, 2019), Abdülmecid Efendi Mansion (Istanbul, 2019), Odunpazari Modern Museum (Eskisehir, 2019), Neues Museum Nürnberg (2018), ArtScience Museum (Singapore, 2015), Evliyagil Museum (Ankara, 2017), Mekan 68 (Vienna, 2016), and Baksi Museum (Bayburt, 2015). In 2018, Ahmet Doğu İpek was a resident artist in Cité des Arts in Paris. His first artist book, consisting of the Days series, was published in 2018. İpeks works are included in institutional collections such as Arter, Istanbul Modern and Odunpazari Modern Museum. Ahmet Doğu İpek lives and works in Istanbul.