10 Digital Artists: Turkish Artists You Should Know
In Türkiye, where the art scene has long been rooted in rich cultural traditions, the rise of digital art represents a fascinating convergence of history and innovation.
Turkish artists has been blending traditional artistry with cutting-edge technology to create a dynamic new medium. As they increasingly embrace digital tools, they’re not just expanding their own horizons but also contributing to a global dialogue about the future of art.
The digital art revolution is helping Turkish artists redefine their creative boundaries and engage with a wider audience in ways that were previously unimaginable. We are highlighting ten of the most talented artists who are making significant contributions to both the local and global art communities, celebrating the power of digital media in contemporary art.
From generative algorithms to create intricate visual patterns to interactive installations that invite viewers to become part of the artwork, these artists use cutting-edge technology to explore ethereal and otherworldly as well as deeply personal and socially relevant themes.
Whether you are an artist looking for inspiration, a curator working on an exhibition, or a digital arts fan looking to discover digital artists, this list is for you.
Here’s 10 of the best digital artists from Türkiye who are making waves in the digital art world.
Scroll the learn more about them! Here’s the featured artists:Esra EslenBaris Varujan KabalakRefik AnadolKübra Su YıldırımTarık TolunayLorem Ipsumİdil DursunMurat AtimtayKerim DündarMemo AktenLet's be friends on Instagram!
〰️
Let's be friends on Instagram! 〰️
Esra Eslen is an Istanbul-based illustrator and graphic designer known for her intricate and colorful microcosms that often depict the dark aspects of life. She explores somber psychological states using intense, brutal, and often gory narratives to amplify these themes. Her art is striking, and offers a candid and unfiltered perspective on human nature.
With a background in graphic design at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Esra’s artistic style is a cartoon-like approach to digital drawing using Procreate. Her meticulous attention to detail and storytelling invite viewers to explore their own inner worlds in unsettling narratives that explore the complexities of life. The artist has made her mark in the crypto-art world since 2021, drawing viewers into her miniature worlds where beauty, power, and raw human nature converge.
Barış Varujan Kabalak is a digital artist who explores the emotional complexities of human experience. His art focuses on exploring the internal struggles we face and the delicate balance between contrasting emotions, like light and darkness. Through his digital artwork, Barış Kabalak seeks to uncover the emotional barriers that arise from our inner conflicts, using color, light, and shadow to guide viewers on a reflective journey.
Drawing inspiration from human relationships, personal introspection, and life’s textures, Kabalak brings together abstract and symbolic elements to express deep emotional intensity. His work is influenced by various disciplines, including literature, music, and cinema, allowing him to create layered pieces that resonate with the complexity of human psychology.
By combining meticulous detail with a thoughtful approach, Kabalak transforms his internal thoughts into digital works that invite viewers to connect with their own emotional experiences. He has exhibited his work globally, including in Times Square NYC, Tokyo, Shangai, and Istanbul.
Refik Anadol is a Turkish-American artist whose data-driven creations utilize algorithms to craft dream-like environments at the intersection of art, science, and technology. By employing machine learning and architectural projections, Anadol transforms digital data into mesmerizing dynamic artworks, turning walls and facades into living canvases.
Anadol’s biggest inspiration is fluid dynamics — He uses generative algorithms and custom softwares to create his signature art, a mesmerizing fluid-like representation of data, which he calls “Machine Hallucinations.” When he asks the AI to interpret given data, audiences get immersed in a captivating dream of a machine.
Anadol's installations challenge the boundaries between the physical and virtual worlds, prompting audiences to rethink technology's role in shaping our perception of reality. Through his innovative use of digital media, Anadol creates immersive environments that blur the lines between art, architecture, and digital ethereality, offering a vision of the future of artistic expression.
Also featured in 10 Digital Artists: Immersive Art Experiences
Kübra Su Yıldırım is an Istanbul-based artist who creates multi-layered stories through both digital and traditional art. Her work is rich with cultural textures and features female and non-binary figures, reflecting her deep exploration of gender roles, human relationships, and the mysteries of the universe.
Inspired by the aesthetically and historically rich and complex city of Istanbul, her art has been recognized for shows at venues like Akbank Sanat, Bomontiada, and the Mamut Art Project. She also collaborates with musicians such as Sertab Erener and Elektro Hafız, creating striking visuals that complement their music and enhance the emotional impact of their work.
“I came to life in Istanbul. My name is Kübra Su. Kübra and Su; my name combines my uncle's right-wing and my father's left-wing political views.
This dichotomy followed me throughout my life, and I found myself frequently stuck in it. This feeling transformed into a huge crisis in me, but I have begun to find pleasure in it. I am nurtured by arabesque, comedy, mysticism, the world I occupy, and the world within myself, and thus I continue to produce.”
Tarık Tolunay is an accomplished artist whose career began as part of the last generation of illustrators under the legendary Oğuz Aral at Gırgır comic book in 1989. He honed his craft working for various humor magazines and newspapers, and later made a significant impact in the advertising industry, creating storyboards, illustrations, and animations.
In the early 2000s, Tarık Tolunay began channeling his deep connection with Istanbul into a series of intricate, illustrative city maps under Fractal Istanbul. He features some of Istanbul's most iconic structures and neighborhoods, representing a blend of miniature, engraving, and modern game visuals. His art offers a fresh perspective on city maps that contribute to urban culture.
He continues to work under the moniker "Kentçizer" (City Illustrator), with a focus on adapting the Fractal Istanbul project to new platforms, aiming to transform it into a visual production workshop dedicated to the city of Istanbul.
Lorem Ipsum is a 3D digital artist based in Turkey. He creates his art to “discover the unexplored, to move towards the new and the future.” His art involves pieces of his subconscious and his journey while exploring new stories, depicting alternate realities and a dream within a dream.
His digital artworks have been exhibited in international exhibitions in England and China and in New York City as part of NFT NYC 2023. Lorem Ipsum’s art invokes escapism, but not when one needs to face reality — "Anyone hear my voice..?” is an artwork he created for those who suffered from the massive earthquakes in Turkey in February 2023. All proceeds from the sale of NFT is donated to official fundraising organizations in Turkey.
Lorem Ipsum is also featured in 10 Digital Artists: Wonderful and surreal digital dreamlands
İdil Dursun, a Turkish digital artist and architect, has carved out a niche for herself in the world of CGI with her striking depictions of sci-fi, dystopian worlds, and futuristic cities. Her passion for art has been a constant throughout her life, initially expressed through traditional mediums like acrylics on canvas. After graduating from the School of Architecture in June 2020, she has since been channeling her architectural knowledge into her work as a CGI artist at an architectural visualization office.
Combining her love for video games, sci-fi, and architecture, İdil Dursun's work predominantly explores dystopian and cyberpunk themes, creating immersive environmental concepts that invite viewers into her unique universe. Her NFTs have garnered attention and been collected by notable figures in the web3 community.
Murat Atimtay is an Istanbul-born tattoo artist known for his generative designs. Beginning his career in 2001, the artist’s journey took an exciting turn when he began exploring the use of technology to design tattoos. He brought coding and creativity together for Project Heliantone, an algorithm-driven tattoo art style that brings pointillist tattooing approach to interactive NFTs. The project won first prize at the Frankfurt Tattoo Convention in 2019.
His work has been exhibited at prestigious venues worldwide, including New York’s Times Square, London, and Jerusalem. Also a mentor at VerticalCrypto Art, Murat Atimtay is committed to empowering the next generation of creators by promoting coding education and fostering inclusivity in the digital art world.
“Exploring the boundless synergy between algorithms and artistic expression, my generative art aims to unveil the beauty that emerges when code and creativity converge.”
Kerim Dündar, an Istanbul-based artist and academic, is known for his digital fashion design and ethno-futuristic aesthetics. He initially pursued a Bachelor of Arts in Economics at Bilkent University, but later found his true calling in the arts, earning a Master of Fine Arts in 2013 and a Doctorate of Fine Arts in Graphics Design in 2019 from Hacettepe University. As an Associate Professor and Head of New Media at İstinye University, Kerim Dündar’s research areas include computational design, CG cinematography, and digital fashion.
Alongside his academic position, he is the co-founder of Yakaza Studio, a clothing brand that explores the ethno-futuristic culture by crafting patterns as well as futures. His work has been exhibited at prominent venues like IKSV Design Biennial, Sónar Festival Istanbul, and Contemporary Istanbul. His collaborations, such as the audio-visual performance with Karakter at SonarHall, demonstrate his ability to fuse music and algorithmic design, creating immersive experiences that explore the digital culture of future life.
Memo Akten is a Turkish-born, London-based multidisciplinary artist and researcher whose work navigates the complex intersections of ecology, technology, science, and spirituality. Renowned for his pioneering contributions to the creative applications of Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning, Memo Akten holds a PhD from Goldsmiths University of London, where he specialized in AI with a focus on Meaningful Human Control. His award-winning projects use AI to reflect on human nature and our understanding of the world, often exploring the tension between nature, science, ethics, and tradition.
His work spans a range of mediums, including computational systems, video, sound, and light installations, all designed to create thought-provoking visual and auditory experiences. Throughout his career, Memo Akten has exhibited his work at prestigious venues such as the Grand Palais in Paris, the Royal Opera House in London, and the Moscow Museum of Modern Art.
“My biggest inspiration is trying to understand the world around me. The fundamental questions that drive me are the same questions that have been asked for thousands of years. What is the nature of the universe? What is the nature of life? What is the nature of the mind? Drawing from fields such as physics, biology, abiogenesis, evolution, neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, history, and theology, I study the hidden processes that shape our world, and develop systems that abstract behaviour hoping to create unfamiliar familiarities and encourage new perceptions.”
Read next:
Türkiye: A Beacon of Digital Arts
10 Digital Artists: Women’s History Month
10 Digital Artists: Black artists you need to know
10 Digital Artists: Asian Women Defining The Landscape
10 Digital Artists: The Most Famous & Popular Digital Artists
We share works by digital artists as well as digital arts exhibitions, events, and open calls daily on Instagram — follow us for more and subscribe to our newsletter so you don’t miss new blog posts.
