Our alumna Mihriban Mirap, who graduated with a Bachelor's in Fine Arts in 2005 and a Master's in Fine Arts in 2020, has brought her solo exhibition "Back to the Future" to art enthusiasts.
In her works, the artist creates playful narratives with portraits of people who age but do not grow old, offering a unique and contemporary interpretation of Pop Art.
Mihriban Mirap and her works featured in the exhibition have been covered by the art news platform, SanatOkur.
Born in Istanbul in 1981, Mihriban Mirap graduated from Yeditepe University, Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Plastic Arts in 2005. She received training in the studios of Prof. Özdemir Altan, Prof. Zahit Büyükişleyen, Prof. Turan Aksoy, and Prof. Gülveli Kaya. She completed her Pedagogical Formation at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in 2014. During this time, she participated in various painting competitions. In 2020, she completed her Master's degree at Yeditepe University. She has participated in numerous group exhibitions and held solo exhibitions both domestically and internationally. The artist, who also teaches at Istanbul Bilgi University, continues her painting career in her studio in Istanbul.
Mihriban Mirap brings a unique and contemporary interpretation to Pop Art by creating playful narratives with portraits of people who age but do not grow old. The artist reflects and questions on her canvases the often prominent, sometimes branded and iconic, sometimes integrated images and discourses of modern life and popular culture through her witty portraits. With these works, Mirap brings together our longing for the past in today’s rapidly changing and modernizing world with the colorful and flashy habits within the world of consumerism.
In the "Back to the Future" exhibition, the artist offers a narrative aimed at reinterpreting the present, taking viewers, especially those from Generations X and Y, on a short journey into their own futures. By combining graffiti, one of the most important elements of Pop Art, with her aged portraits, she encourages the viewer to establish a connection between the past, present, and future. The artist creates a striking contrast by bringing together elements of popular culture with found frames reminiscent of Baroque and Rococo styles, drawing attention to the bridge she builds between the past and the present. In her "Superheroes" series, the frames she creates by combining found toys with elderly portraits highlight the similarities and differences between old age and childhood, the life cycle, and a sardonic emphasis on childlike innocence and happiness. The works, adorned with nostalgic images that are not at all unfamiliar to the viewer, present the past lives, life stories, and states within their time of both the viewer and the artist in a colorful composition.
