Renin Bilginer is a contemporary artist working across painting and textiles, based in London. Informed by her research on 18th and 19th century pleasure gardens, Bilginer’s practice manifests as a series of surreal imaginary landscapes, inhabited by masked feminine beings. Rooted in feminist anthropology, Bilginer draws from her experiences as a mixed British -Turkish woman, exploring identity as a transient state through the transformative power of masquerade.

Inspired by Eastern miniature painting, Japanese woodblock printing and Turkish textiles, Bilginer combines fabric dyeing and printing methods with Renaissance style oil painting techniques, creating layered compositions that are rich in colour. Sourcing images from art history books, she subverts the male gaze, by transforming patriarchal depictions of the female nude into demonic otherworldly feminine beings. Populated with abstract patterns, symbolic objects, and hybrid flora and fauna, Bilginer’s “Gardens” become empowering spaces for social mobility and the liberation of the female body.

Bilginer presented her first solo show, Night Parade of One Hundred Women at Galeri Bosfor, Istanbul in 2024. Recent and notable group shows include: The Books of Lilith, APT Gallery, London (2026); Mythic Thread, Royal Overseas League, London (2025); Rüzgar, Galeri Bosfor, Istanbul (2025); From Material to Meaning, Istanbul 74 x Club House Bebek, Istanbul (2025); Enigma Vista, Galeri Bosfor, Istanbul (2024); The Songs of Hecate, Pictorum Gallery, London (2023); Fragments, Subtitle Labs x Omer Tiroche, London (2022); Voices for Love, Prior Art Space, Barcelona (2022). Residencies: Artist in Residence, Art’otel, London (2023); Hinterlands, Canal and River Trust (2023). Projects: Art of Loves, Pandora x Artiq; Design to Move: 40 Years 40 Benches, Technogym x Sotheby’s x UNICEF (2024). Bilginer was shortlisted for the Martin Miller Gin x StART Art Prize at Saatchi Gallery in 2022. Her work exists in several private collections, including Papko Art Collection, Istanbul.