Dagmar Göğdün

She was born in Zeitz/Germany and due to the profession of her father – an engineer – who worked in several foreign countries like Mexico, Spain and Luxembourg, she had a very turbulent childhood, had to attend eight different schools and was educated in several foreign languages like Spanish, French and English. Nevertheless she ‘managed’ to become a foreign correspondent for English and Spanish. When she got an offer to work in Istanbul, she accepted this job and settled down in Turkey. She got married and has been living in Istanbul since 1965.

Her interest for Fine Arts began due to a Rotary Project, i.e. to show Turkey’s intellectual side to Europe. For this purpose an exhibition with works of the young assistants of the Mimar Sinan University was organized and this exhibition was then shown in Frankfurt and Vienna. Mrs. Göğdün was engaged with said organization and the subject of Fine Arts excited her so much, that she decided to dedicate herself to this subject. She attended the Mimar Sinan U niversity as a guest student and took private lessons from the painters Tanju Demirci and İrfan Önürmen.

Why are Flowers the main subject of her paintings?
During her stay in Monclova – in the middle of the desserts of Mexico – every European suffered from the existing heat. To get some refreshment her father often took his family to the nearby dessert at night. There were of course many cactuses and since they open their blooms at night, she was already as a child fascinated by their c olours, shapes and fragrance. This impression reflects in her works.

So far she had 13 solo exhibitions and participated in many group exhibitions.

Some of her most important Solo Exhibitions:
1996 – One and a Thousand Flower, Art Gallery of the Turkish İş Bankası, Erenköy/Istanbul,
1998 – Memories of Mexico, Art Gallery of Toprak Bank, Istanbul,
2002 – Endangered Beauty, Turkey’s Flora and Endemic Plants, Botanic Garden of the Hamburg University, Hamburg,
2005 – Nature’s Children, General Directorate of Garanti Bank, Istanbul,
2008 – Flower Mania, Odakule Art Gallery, Istanbul,
2010 – Starring Violet, Odakule Art Gallery, Istanbul,
2012 – Camellia Show, Doku Art Galleries, Istanbul.

Participation in the most important Group Exhibitions:
2001 – Bahariye Art Gallery, Istanbul,
2003 – Harbiye Military Museum,
2005 – Mine Art Gallery, D-Marin Turgut Reis, Bodrum,
2006 – Art Fusion Gallery, Miami, USA,
2007 – Art Fusion Gallery, Miami, USA,
2008 – Mine Sanat Gallery, Istanbul,
2012 – Ward Nasse Gallery, New York,
2012 – Doku Art Galleries, Istanbul,
2013 – Doku Art Galleries, Istanbul,
2013 – Southern Nevada Museum of Fine Arts, Las Vegas,
2014 – Doku Art Galleries, Istanbul