Gökçen Cabadan

Gökçen Cabadan (b. 1980, Izmir, Turkey) is an artist who works in painting, mainly in oil pastel. Cabadan's subjects are domestic life, coming of age and the self in relation to the outside world. The work draws on the tradition of storytelling. The image of the fetal position returns across the work. Cabadan makes portraits and invented scenes, shown as single paintings and as painting installations. Some works use mixed media on found paper.

Cabadan's first solo exhibition, Progeria, opened at Galerist, Istanbul, in 2008 and drew on images of children and adolescents. Without Landscape was shown at Galerie Anne Mertens, Leuven, in 2010. At Öktem Aykut, Istanbul, Cabadan showed Dystopia (2016), Monogamy in Recollection (2017) and Gaslighting (2021). Anti-Baby (2025) gathered 13 works made over the two years before the show. Vogue (2025) is a woman's head in pastel, drawn over a printed form headed KARAR DEFTERİ, a decision ledger. Adam and Eve (Planet of the Apes scene), 2025, is in oil pastel and acrylic on paper. It places two ape-masked figures from the film in an oval vignette within a pink patterned border.

Cabadan graduated in painting from Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, in 2009. Cabadan also holds a master's degree in media art from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK), Ghent. In the second half of 2010 Cabadan held a residency at the Cité des Arts, Paris. Early group exhibitions include CIAO! at Netwerk Aalst (2006) and White Out at Kunsthaus Erfurt (2010). In Istanbul, group shows include Every Inclusion is an Exclusion of Other Possibilities at SALT (2015) and Suppose You Are Not at Arter (2024). Cabadan gave a one-person presentation at LISTE Art Fair, Basel, in 2018. The Opymos Collection holds Perfect Child (2005). Cabadan is represented by Öktem Aykut, Istanbul.