Nergis Abıyeva

Nergis Abıyeva (1991) is a feminist art historian, curator, writer, and director of Quick Art Space, a non-profit art foundation in Istanbul. She continues her PhD studies in the Art History department at Istanbul Technical University along with her professional activities. Upon the completion of her undergraduate studies at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University (MSGSU), Department of Art History and Brera Academy in Milan, Abıyeva received her Master’s degree with her thesis titled “Tiraje Dikmen’s Art and Life” from MSGSU Western Art and Contemporary Art. In 2017, she received a SALT Research Grant on “Tiraje Dikmen in the Context of Painters Who Travelled to Paris in the 1950s”. Between 2015 and 2017, Abıyeva worked for Maçka Art Gallery’s 40th Anniversary projects and contributed to archive exhibitions. Between 2017 and 2020, she worked as a researcher for a private collection and Arter.

Since 2015, her writings have appeared in numerous publications both in Turkish and English. Her first book titled Çağdaş Resmin Dervişi [The Dervish of Contemporary Painting] on the life and work of artist Murat Sinkil was published in 2022. She wrote about female artists from Turkey such as Tiraje Dikmen, Mihri Rasim, and Gülçin Aksoy for the AWARE platform. Among the group exhibitions she curated are “Balance of Wisdom” (Quick Art Space, 2024), “Constructed Nature” (Quick Art Space, 2023), “Mental Imaginary Things not Actually Present ” (Summart, 2022), “Another Atlas of Women Artists” (Tophane-i Amire Culture and Art Centre, 2022), “Marvelous correspondences, subtle resemblances” (Mixer, 2021).
Nergis will be in residence during the month of August 2025.