Cevdet Erek

Cevdet Erek, born in Istanbul in 1974, is an artist and musician based in Istanbul. He makes site-specific installations that combine sound, video, images, light and built elements, alongside rulers, objects and live performance. Systems of measurement such as the metric system, the calendar, the clock and beats per minute run through the work.

Erek trained in architecture at Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts from 1992 to 1999. He then turned to sound at Istanbul Technical University's MIAM, completing a master's in sound engineering and design in 2003 and later a PhD. He co-founded the band Nekropsi and plays drums in it. Room of Rhythms was his installation for dOCUMENTA (13) in 2012. Works in the Bergama Stereo series appeared at the Ruhrtriennale in Bochum in 2019, Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin and Arter in Istanbul.

He represented Turkey at the 57th Venice Biennale in 2017 with ÇIN. Solo exhibitions include Kunsthalle Basel (2012), Spike Island in Bristol (2014), M HKA in Antwerp (2018), the Art Institute of Chicago (2019) and the Secession in Vienna (2025). During his Rijksakademie residency he received the Uriot Prize for the video Studio, and in 2012 he received the Nam June Paik Prize. Hamburger Bahnhof has acquired a work from the Bergama Stereo series.