Necmi Sönmez
Encyclopedia
Necmi Sönmez is a Turkish-German curator
, art critic
and writer living and working in Düsseldorf
.
, Paris
, Newcastle
and Frankfurt am Main. He gained his doctorate in 2001 in Frankfurt with a dissertation on “Milch, Blütenstaub, Reis und Wachs. Das Gesamtwerk von Wolfgang Laib
” (Milk, pollen, rice and wax. The artistic oeuvre of Wolfgang Laib) at Goethe University Frankfurt with Prof. Stefan Germer and Prof. Manfred Schneckenburger .
From 1994 to 1997, Sönmez worked as an independent curator, initiating and organizing numerous exhibition projects, mainly involving young artists, in Turkey, Germany
, Holland and France
. From 1998 to 2000 he was a project assistant at the Museum Wiesbaden
and at the MUMOK
(Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig) in Vienna
.
in Essen
, where he curated several exhibitions and projects, including the first museum exhibitions of artists, such as Didiert Trenet (2001), Daniel Knorr (2001), Surasi Kusolwong (2002), Elisabeth Ballet (2003) and Saâdane Hafif (2005).
From 2006 to 2008, Sönmez was artistic director of the Kunstverein Arnsberg
, where he presented artists such as Ekrem Yalcindag, Gregor Schneider
(both 2006), Myriam Holme, Florian Bach (both 2007), Sabine Boehl, Martin Dammann and Anja Cuipka (all 2008).
His current activities include co-curating the exhibition “Contemporary Art from Islamic Cultures” Kunstmuseum Bochum
, serving as a member of the committee of experts (Comité Technique) of the Regional Contemporary Art Fund (FRAC) in the French region of Franche-Comté
and working as guest curator for the Proje4L / Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art
in Istanbul
.
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
, art critic
Art critic
An art critic is a person who specializes in evaluating art. Their written critiques, or reviews, are published in newspapers, magazines, books and on web sites...
and writer living and working in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
.
Life and work
Necmi Sönmez studied art history, Byzantine art history and classical archaeology in MainzMainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
and Frankfurt am Main. He gained his doctorate in 2001 in Frankfurt with a dissertation on “Milch, Blütenstaub, Reis und Wachs. Das Gesamtwerk von Wolfgang Laib
Wolfgang Laib
Wolfgang Laib is a German conceptual artist working predominantly with natural materials.-Biography:Laib studied medicine in the 1970s in Tübingen...
” (Milk, pollen, rice and wax. The artistic oeuvre of Wolfgang Laib) at Goethe University Frankfurt with Prof. Stefan Germer and Prof. Manfred Schneckenburger .
From 1994 to 1997, Sönmez worked as an independent curator, initiating and organizing numerous exhibition projects, mainly involving young artists, in Turkey, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Holland and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. From 1998 to 2000 he was a project assistant at the Museum Wiesbaden
Museum Wiesbaden
Museum Wiesbaden is a museum in the Hessian capital Wiesbaden, Germany. Besides the museums in Kassel and Darmstadt, it is one of the three Hessian state museums. The museum comprises an art collection, a natural history collection and a collection of Nassauian antiquities.-External links:***...
and at the MUMOK
MUMOK
MUMOK is the abbreviation of "MUseum MOderner Kunst" Foundation Ludwig Vienna. It is located in the Museumsquartier in Vienna, Austria....
(Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig) in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
.
Exhibitions
From 2001 until the end of January 2005, Sönmez held the post of curator of contemporary art at the Museum FolkwangMuseum Folkwang
Museum Folkwang is a major collection of 19th and 20th century art in Essen, Germany. The museum was established in 1922 by merging the Essener Kunstmuseum, which was founded in 1906, and the private Folkwang Museum of the collector and patron Karl Ernst Osthaus in Hagen, founded in 1901.The term...
in Essen
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
, where he curated several exhibitions and projects, including the first museum exhibitions of artists, such as Didiert Trenet (2001), Daniel Knorr (2001), Surasi Kusolwong (2002), Elisabeth Ballet (2003) and Saâdane Hafif (2005).
From 2006 to 2008, Sönmez was artistic director of the Kunstverein Arnsberg
Arnsberg
Arnsberg is a town in the Hochsauerland district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the location of the Regierungsbezirk Arnsberg's administration and one of the three local administration offices of the Hochsauerlandkreis.-Geography:...
, where he presented artists such as Ekrem Yalcindag, Gregor Schneider
Gregor schneider
Gregor Schneider is a German artist, whose main area of work is constructed rooms. In 2001, he was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale for his infamous work Totes Haus u r exhibited at the German Pavilion....
(both 2006), Myriam Holme, Florian Bach (both 2007), Sabine Boehl, Martin Dammann and Anja Cuipka (all 2008).
His current activities include co-curating the exhibition “Contemporary Art from Islamic Cultures” Kunstmuseum Bochum
Bochum
Bochum is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area and is surrounded by the cities of Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Herne, Castrop-Rauxel, Dortmund, Witten and Hattingen.-History:...
, serving as a member of the committee of experts (Comité Technique) of the Regional Contemporary Art Fund (FRAC) in the French region of Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté the former "Free County" of Burgundy, as distinct from the neighbouring Duchy, is an administrative region and a traditional province of eastern France...
and working as guest curator for the Proje4L / Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art
Proje4L / Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art
Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art is a private collection museum, founded by Dr. Can Elgiz.The museum opened in 2001, when there were no non-profit institutions in Turkey dedicated to contemporary art...
in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
.
Public Projects
Necmi Sönmez has changed the structure of Städtische Galerie Museum Folkwang to the Mobile Städtische Galerie from 2001 until 2005. He has developed an interdisciplinary subversive public art program aimed at forging closer links between theoretical formats and exhibition presentations.- 2001 “Tische der Kommunikation” (Table of Communication)
- 2002 “Private Öffentlichkeit” (Private Public)
- 2003 “Sukûn / Stille” (Silence, 2003)
- 2004 “Das Erinnerte Haus” (The remembered house, 2004).
Books
Since 1994, Necmi Sönmez has published number of monographies on artists that function in parallel to his curatorial work including:- Fahr-el-Nissa Zeid (Aksoy Foundation, Istanbul, 1994)
- Mübin Orhan Robert and Lisa Sainbury Collection (Yapi Kredi Yayinlari, Istanbul, 1996)
- „Ecole de Paris et les Peintres Turc“ (Yapi Kredi Yayinlari, Istanbul, 2000)
- Klaus Jürgen-Fischer, "Kunstspektakel - Kunstdebakel. Kunstkritisches Tagebuch, (Salon Verlag, Cologne, 2001)
- Sanat Hayati Icerir mi?: Selected Writings 1995–2005 (Yapi Kredi Yayinlari, Istanbul, 2006)
- Turkish Realities, Positions of Contemporary Photography from Turkey, (Kerber Verlag, Heidelberg, 2008)
Critical Writing
Necmi Sönmez has contributed to Flash Art, Neue Bildende Kunst, Kunstzeitung, Cumhuriyet and Virgül.External links
- http://www.necmisoenmez.de
- http://www.art-magazin.de/kunst/15236/radar
- http://www.goethe.de/kue/bku/kur/kur/sz/son/enindex.htm