Renin Bilginer is a contemporary artist from London, with dual British and Turkish heritage. Bilginer graduated from BA Painting at University of Brighton in 2019, and MA Painting at Royal College of Art in 2023. In 2024, she presented her first solo show, ‘Night Parade of One Hundred Women’ at Galeri Bosfor, Istanbul. Bilginer has exhibited in group shows with a number of galleries, both in the UK and abroad, including; Saatchi Gallery, Soho Revue, Pictorum Gallery, Subtitle Labs x Omer Tiroche, Prior Art Space, Plain Gallery and Galeri Bosfor.
Bilginer was previously artist in residence at Art’otel, Battersea and recently worked on a year long residency project with the Canal and River Trust in London; the final work was presented as a site specific textile installation, where she debuted her first collaborative performance piece. She has also worked commercially on projects with Pandora x Artiq and Technogym in partnership with Sothebys and UNICEF. In 2022, she was shortlisted for the Martin Miller Gin x StART Art Prize. Bilginer’s work exists in several international private collections, most notably Papko Art Collection in Istanbul. In 2025, she will release her first publication with Snap Collective.
Bilginer’s practice examines identity as a transient state within the context of her mixed British and Turkish heritage, with a focus on the intersection between Eastern and Western cultures. Rooted in the social and cultural anthropology of the feminine in: Folklore, mythology, ritual and pagan belief systems, dating back to antiquity, her practice explores these narratives from a contemporary perspective. Dedicated to the celebration and empowerment of the feminine, the work addresses issues surrounding womanhood, non-conformity, belonging and the embodiment of multiple identities, encapsulating the wider experiences of mixed heritage women.
Through the research of iconographic and symbolic imagery, literary and academic texts, and photographic research, themes of: Femininity, rebellion, hedonism and ritual are explored throughout the work. The transformative power of masquerade is central to Bilginer’s exploration of identity, which is presented through the various stages of undress and redress of the feminine beings that dominate the work. Identity is examined as both fluid and fragmented, visible, whether in Bilginer’s depictions of the female body, or in the physical separation between surfaces, colour and pattern. Set within a fluid imaginary landscape, Bilginer’s constructed world transcends time and physical space, becoming devoid of rules and restrictions.
Bilginer’s visual style is heavily inspired by Eastern miniature painting, Japanese woodblock printing and Turkish textiles. The resulting works are presented as tapestry-paintings, wearable pieces and sculptural installations, which are sometimes explored within moving image and performance. Whilst the work is centred around the mediums of painting and textiles, her material language is focused on experimentation and evolution. Integral to the work is the method of hand dyeing fabrics, which has become a ritual in its own right. Bilginer incorporates a multi-media approach through the combination of: Fabric, synthetic and natural dyes, pigment, oils, acrylic, pen and embroidery, connected through her dynamic and surreal use of colour and pattern.