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Prof. Dr. Güngör Güner is known for her work in both functional and freeform vessels and wall panels. Güner was born in Istanbul in 1941. After graduating in 1962 from the Istanbul State Applied Arts Institute (now the Faculty of Fine Arts, Marmara University) with a major in Ceramics, she received a scholarship from the Ministry of Education for further study in Germany. There, she was trained in ceramic arts and ceramics engineering. On her return, she obtained an appointment as an assistant in the Ceramics Department of the Institute. Her thesis, titled "Anadolu’da Yaşamakta Olan lkel Çömlekçilik (Contemporary Primitive Pottery Handcrafts in Anatolia,)", which she submitted in 1978 and which earned her a position as an instructor, was subsequently published by Ak Publications. She became an Assistant Professor at Marmara University in 1983, then Associate Professor; she now holds a full Professorship (since 1993). The artist gives precedence to the traditional potter’s wheel in giving form to her creations. Her work, including freeform vessels and panels, typically consists of three dimensional artifacts whose dominant form comes from the potter’s wheel and unique pieces of functional earthenware. Typical specimens of her work are "Yesterday - Today – Tomorrow”, composed of three gigantic buttons", and "The Potter’s Wheel." The 1990’s have seen the artist moving towards vessels whose forms are more abstract yet which, at the same time, do not reject tradition-and producing objects such as "Earthen Disk, A Couple" and "Angled Wheel". Currently, the artist is experimenting with work whose conceptual qualities expand the frontiers of ceramic arts with her installation called "The Earth-Water Connection" and "Transparency", a composition of square units-ash glazed in vivid colors-which are enclosed by a number of square-shaped plastic bags filled with water, both clear and colored. Prof.Güner has contributed numerous articles on the arts and technique of ceramics and training for ceramists and presented slide-lectures on traditional and modern Turkish ceramics arts. She has also frequently presented one-man shows of her own works.
AWARDS, FELLOWSHİPS 1962: Silver Medal, Prague International Ceramic Exhibition. 1975-1976: Art Award, Istanbul Archeological Museums. 1978: First prize, Competition held by the Dekora magazine. 1982 and 1985: Success Award, Istanbul Artists of Today. 1989: Artist-in-Residence, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago-Illinois. 1990: Japanese Field Research Fellowship, Japan Foundation. 1996: Artist-in-Residence, Künstlerische Keramik Enstitüt, Höh Grezhausen, Germany. |
