REFIK ANADOL

Early Years

Anadol was born in Istanbul, Turkey, and received his early education there. He completed a Master of Fine Arts at UCLA’s Department of Design Media Arts in Los Angeles, where he now lives and directs the Refik Anadol Studio. His formative years in Istanbul and subsequent experiences in California fostered his interest in the intersection of architecture, contemporary art, and cutting-edge technology.

Refik Anadol Artworks

Refik Anadol’s contemporary art practice explores the convergence of art, technology, and architecture. Utilising advanced machine learning and AI, he visualises complex data sets, transforming them into hypnotic installations, “data sculptures,” and digital paintings that challenge the boundaries of perception.

Seminal Artworks and Developments

Infinity Room (2015–16)

An interactive installation using algorithmically generated light projections to create an ever-changing immersive environment that seeks to dissolve the boundaries between the digital and the physical.

Melting Memories (2018)

Developed with neuroscientists at UCSF, this series transforms brainwave data related to memory recall into dynamic digital art, highlighting the materiality of remembering.

Machine Hallucinations (2019–present)

A major, ongoing series where Anadol uses AI to process vast photographic datasets—often from major cities or public archives—creating large-scale projections that turn data into an expression of collective memory. This approach includes NFT releases and celebrated exhibitions in global venues.

Unsupervised – Machine Hallucinations (2022)

Commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, this work used AI to interpret MoMA’s collection, resulting in a dynamic, large-scale digital artwork.

Large Nature Model (2024–25)

Debuted in exhibitions at London‘s Serpentine Galleries and the United Nations, this project employs generative AI trained on massive datasets of natural environments such as rainforests and coral reefs, resulting in immersive installations and the world’s first open-source generative AI model dedicated to nature.

A Goal in Life: Leo Messi x Refik Anadol (2025)

A historic AI artwork created in partnership with Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF Foundation. Anadol’s data sculpture reimagines Messi’s iconic 2009 Champions League goal against Manchester United, merging event data and biometrics into a visual ‘living memory’. The piece is exhibited at Christie’s New York, with auction proceeds supporting UNICEF educational initiatives.

Select Public Commissions

• DATA FALL: AKBANK, Sabancı Center, Istanbul (permanent)
• Living Arena, Intuit Dome, Los Angeles (permanent)
• Large Nature Model: Coral, Noor Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (2024)

Select Awards and Accolades

• Microsoft Research’s Best Vision Award
• German Design Award
• UCLA Art+Architecture Moss Award
• University of California Institute for Research in the Arts Award
• SEGD Global Design Award
• Google’s Art and Machine Intelligence Artist Residency Award

Exhibitions

Refik Anadol’s contemporary art practice has been widely exhibited both solo and in group exhibitions at leading international institutions.

Solo Exhibitions

• Echoes of the Earth: Living Archive, Serpentine North, London (2024)
• Kunsthal Rotterdam (2024)
• Unsupervised — Machine Hallucinations, MoMA, New York (2022)
• Melting Memories – Engram, Neurones, Centre Pompidou, Paris (2020)
• Machine Hallucinations: Nature Dreams, König Galerie, Berlin (2021)
• WDCH Dreams, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles (2018)
• Infinity Room, Malmö (2016)

Group Exhibitions

• Venice Architecture Biennale (2021)
• National Gallery of Victoria Triennial, Melbourne (2020)
• Ars Electronica Linz (2017)
• Istanbul Biennial (2015)
• Art Basels, major light festivals and UN General Assembly (2024–25)

Refik Anadol FAQs

Ocula | 2025