Gülay Semercioğlu was born in 1968 in Istanbul. She studied at the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Department of Painting from 1989 to 1994. After graduating she took a social science studies MA. In 1995 she became Director of Derimod Art Center and from 1999 till 2008 she taught art at Yeditepe University Faculty of Fine Arts. Her first solo exhibition was in 1996 at Taksim Art Gallery in Istanbul. Since then she has participated in local and international group exhibitions. Some of her selected exhibitions include “Dream and Reality – Modern and Contemporary Women Artists from Turkey” 12th Istanbul Biennial parallel exhibition at Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, Istanbul, “In Stitches” curated by Beth Rudin Dewoody in New York, “Under my feet I want the world” Istanbul Next Wave at Akademie der Künste in Berlin, “Kaleidoscope” at Galerie Kashya Hildebrand in Zurich. “Kinetic Line”, “Light on Line” and “Erotic Line” solo exhibitions were hosted by Pi Artworks in Istanbul. Her last solo shows are “The Line of Life”, held by Etemad Gallery in Dubai, and “Variations on Line” at Leila Heller Gallery in New York (2012). Her works were also exhibited in Art Paris, Abu Dhabi, Art Dubai, Scope Basel, Art Asia Miami and Art Hong Kong fairs. Semercioğlu has received several awards, including the Turkey Jockey Club Painting Achievement Award in 1999, the Siemens Art Award and the Contemporary Artist 15th Istanbul Exhibition Dr. Nejat Eczacibasi Art Museum Award.
