Renin Bilginer is a multidisciplinary artist from London, with dual British and Turkish heritage. Renin graduated from University of Brighton in 2019 and Royal College of Art in 2023. She has recently exhibited with Soho Revue, Subtitle Labs x Omer Tiroche, Pictorum Gallery, Hypha Studios and Broadworks (London), and internationally with Prior Art Space (Barcelona), Galeri Bosfor (Istanbul) and Plain Gallery (Milan). In 2022 she was shortlisted for the StART Martin Miller’s Gin Emerging Art Prize at Saatchi Gallery and completed a month-long residency at the Art’otel Battersea (London) in 2023. Renin has also recently been commissioned for collaborative projects, such as ‘Art of Loves’ by Pandora x Artiq and ‘Design to Move’ with Technogym. She is now finishing a year-long residency project, ‘Hinterlands 3’ with the Canal & River Trust and has had her first solo show in 2024: ‘Night Parade of One Hundred Women’ at Galeri Bosfor in Istanbul.
Working closely with textiles, painting and installation, Renin’s practice is rooted in her experiences as a woman with mixed British and Turkish heritage. The activity of myth making is used to set the work within an imagined ancient world, inhabited by feminine beings and presented as a fantasy archive of artefacts belonging to it. Informed by her cross-cultural historical research on localised pagan belief systems, folklore and female deities, as well as written and visual depictions of 18th century pleasure gardens, the work addresses issues relating to womanhood, non-conformity and the embodiment of multiple identities. Through the ritualistic behaviour of these beings, the work champions powerful scenes of rebellion, hedonism and femininity, exploring the transformative power of masking and masquerade.
Renin’s visual language is inspired by Eastern miniature painting, Japanese woodblock printing and Turkish textiles. Resulting as tapestry-paintings, wearable pieces and sculptural installations, the revival of craftsmanship within a fine-arts context drives Renin’s practice; the method of dyeing fabrics, mixing dye pastes and creating painted textiles has become an integral part of her work. Through a continuing exploration of materials and modes of presentation, Renin investigates how painting can evolve and expand to create a more immersive experience of narrative.