Antonio Cosentino

Antonio Cosentino (born 1970) is a Turkish contemporary artist of Italian origin living and working in Istanbul. Primarily a painter, Cosentino's work also encompasses sculpture, installation, writing and photography.

Education Graduated from the Painting Department of Mimar Sinan University, Istanbul, Faculty of Fine Arts in 1994.

Work Cosentino's paintings are characterized by the vibrancy of colors and textures, "suffused with a sense of movement, driven by plot and character". Often engaged in storytelling across multiple media, Cosentino has focused on the subcultures and urban development in the city of Istanbul where he lives.

Cosentino was among the three founders of the artists' initiative Hafriyat in 1996, together with Hakan Gürsoytrak and Mustafa Pancar In the next decade, the collective became a prominent actor in the Istanbul art scene with self-organized and politically engaged exhibitions showcasing a variety of artists' works. Between 2007 and 2009, the collective permanently occupied a space in Karakoy neighbourhood.

Artist and critic Pınar Öğrenci describes Antonio Cosentino's art as follows: "While the shifting character of highbrow and low-brow art was being discussed in the 90s contemporary art milieus, Cosentino and his artist friends undertook, as it were, the archaeology of a gaze which brought subculture into question. It is from this period on that Cosentino’s painting incorporated materials from the visual culture of our geography without letting one dominate the others: panels, signboards, wrappings and ceramic tiles (...) Cosentino’s mobile and ludic setup once again reminds us of the typical obliviousness of modernity, by suggesting concepts such as the fleetingness of megacities and urban architecture, the loss of human scale and localness, the superhuman speed and even consumption."

Cosentino's works are part of major collections including Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, Vehbi Koç Foundation Contemporary Art Collection, Odunpazari Modern Museum.

Solo exhibitions 2018 "Summer was a Beautiful Day", Zilberman Gallery, Berlin, Germany 2016 "boxes of cigarettes and whisky all over the sea, feråre, my love", Zilberman Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey 2015 "Mom I’m going out to pour some concrete, with Memed Erdener", Studio X, Istanbul Turkey 2015 "Escape from Marmara", Salt Ulus, Ankara, Turkey 2015 "Painting Exhibition", Nurol Art Gallery, Ankara, Turkey 2013 "Tin City, Karaköy Külah, Istanbul", Turkey2011 "Time Tunnel" Gallery Kullukcu, München, Germany 2008 "Picture Book of History and Stuff " Pi Artworks, Istanbul, Turkey 2007 "Çimentofayansavize" Evin Art Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey 2005 "Sisli – Yesilkoy", Evin Art Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey 2004 "Istanbul 2003-Concrete Sea", Evin Art Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey

Group exhibitions 2017: For Rent, For Sale, Protocinema, Istanbul, Turkey 2016: Istanbul, Passion, Joy, Fury, curator: Hou Hanru, The National Museum of XXI Century Arts MAXXI, Roma, Italy 2015: Every Inclusion Is an Exclusion of Other Possibilities, Salt Beyoğlu, Istanbul, Turkey 2015: 2nd Kyiv Biennial, The School of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine 2015: 3rd Mardin Biennial: Mythologies, Mardin, Turkey 2013: Unrest of Form. Imagining The Political Subject, Wiener Festwochen, Vienna, Austria 2010: "Arter. Second Exhibition" 2010: "Hafriyat. Spare Time. Great Work." 2010: "Tactics of Invisibility", Arter Istanbul, TBA 21 Vienna, Tanas Berlin 2009: "Istanbul Next Wave" Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany 2008: "Becoming Istanbul "