Copyright © 2025,
All rights reserved.

In her works, Elif Uras explores ideas of gender and class related to representation of women across different geographies and time.

Elif Uras (b. Ankara) attended Brown University and Columbia Law School before receiving a BFA from School of Visual Arts and and MFA from Columbia School of the Arts. Her practice spans ceramics, drawing and painting.

She frequently employs labor intensive intricate patterns on her surfaces inspired by diverse art historic sources including Prehistoric art, antiquity, Islamic geometry, Iznik tiles and Western modernism. Her work also engages with questions of tradition, ornament and labor, especially feminized labor.

Often working on location in Iznik (Nicaea), where the most renowned tiles and ceramics of the Ottoman Empire were produced centuries ago, Uras produces works in ceramic that incorporate the non-figurative visual vocabulary of Iznik with the female body. Subverting tradition the intricate geometric and naturalistic patterns are employed to paint and draw on vessels whose forms allude to the ideas of femininity in a rapidly modernizing yet traditional society. Her works have also been exhibited at Metropolitan Museum, MoMA PS1, Salon 94, New York, 9th Shanghai Biennale and Pera Museum. Uras’s works are included in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Victoria and Albert Museum. Uras was an Artist-in-Residence at the Museum of Arts and Design, New York in 2020–2021.

Elif Uras lives and works between New York, Istanbul and Iznik.

Photo credit: Berk Kır

Education

  1. 2003
    MFA, Columbia University School of the Arts, New York, USA
  2. 2001
    BFA, School of Visual Arts, New York, USA
  3. 1997
    JD, Columbia University Law School, New York, USA
  4. 1994
    BA, Brown University, USA
  5. 1990
    Robert College, Istanbul, Türkiye

Artist Residencies

  1. 2020
    Museum of Arts and Design, Artist Studios, New York, USA

Awards

  1. 2020
    NYSCA / NYFA Artist Fellow
  2. 2001
    The Rhodes Family Award

Solo Exhibitions

  1. 2018
    ‘The Source’, Galerist, Istanbul, Türkiye
  2. 2017
    ‘Déjà Vu’, The Box, Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London, UK
  3. 2016
    ‘Hayal Meyal’, Galerist, Istanbul, Türkiye
  4. 2015
    ‘Nicaea’, The Aldrich Museum, Connecticut, USA
  5. 2009
    ‘Panaroma Arcade’, Galerist, Istanbul, Türkiye
  6. 2008
    ‘Drawing Disconnect’, Kirkhoff Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
  7. 2007
    ‘The Occidentalist’, Smith-Stewart, New York, USA
  8. 2006
    ‘Industry’, Gavlak, West Palm Beach, USA
  9. 2005
    ‘Redland’, Mario Diacono Gallery, Boston, USA
  10. 2004
    ‘What You Want’, Galerist, Istanbul, Türkiye
  11. ‘Private Collection’, Kenny Schachter / ROVE, New York, USA
  12. 2025
    ‘Earth on Their Hands’, Galerist, İstanbul, Türkiye

Group Exhibitions

  1. 2025
    ‘Material Witnesses’, curated by Tamara Chalabi, The Demos Center, Athens, Greece
  2. ‘The Volcano Lover’, curated by Anlam de Coster, Galerist, Istanbul, Türkiye
  3. ‘Anywhere But Here’, Candice Madey Gallery, New York, USA
  4. 2024
    ‘Through the Floods’, Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia, Italy
  5. ‘Distilled From Scattered Blue’, curated by Károly Aliotti, Galerist, Istanbul, Türkiye
  6. ‘Being Mediterranean’, curated by Rahmouna Boutayeb, MO.CO. Montpellier Contemporain, Montpellier, France
  7. 2023
    ‘Dialogues: Modern Artists and the Ottoman Past’, Metropolitan Museum, New York, USA
  8. ‘Slip Tease’, Kasmin Gallery, New York, USA
  9. ‘Souvenirs of the Future’, curated by Ulya Soley, Pera Museum, Istanbul, Türkiye
  10. ‘Healing Ruins’, curated by Anlam de Coster, Zeyrek Çinili Hamam, Istanbul, Türkiye
  11. ‘People of the Otherworld: Ken Kiff in Dialogue’, curated by Kathy Battista, Albertz Benda, New York, USA
  12. ‘Time is a Child’, Galerist in collaboration with Perasma, Navy Base of Leros, Leros, Greece
  13. 2022
    ‘Grief and Pleasure’, Odunpazarı Modern Museum, Eskişehir, Türkiye
  14. ‘Another Round’, Galeri Nev, Kendi Collection, Istanbul, Türkiye
  15. ‘Oeuvre and Grace’, curated by Derya Yücel, Erimtan Museum, Ankara, Türkiye
  16. 2021
    ‘Intervention’, The Artisan Hotel, Istanbul, Türkiye
  17. 2020
    ‘Contemporary Ceramic Art from the Middle East’, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
  18. ‘The Age of Gold’, Galeri Nev, Ankara, Türkiye
  19. 2019
    ‘The Union’, curated by Haldun Dostoğlu, Odunpazarı Modern Museum, Eskişehir, Türkiye
  20. ‘Paper’, Pilevneli Gallery, Istanbul, Türkiye
  21. 2018
    ‘Still Life with a Curtain’, curated by Deniz Artun, Galerist, Istanbul, Türkiye
  22. ‘First Round’, Galata Greek School, Istanbul, Türkiye
  23. 2017
    ‘12x12, 2017’, Black Ball Projects, New York, USA
  24. ‘Paisley’, BFA Visual & Critical Studies, Flatiron Project Space, New York, USA
  25. 2015
    ‘Hybridization’, Amir Mohtashemi Gallery, London, UK
  26. 2014
    ‘Closest Distance’, Galerist, Istanbul, Türkiye
  27. ‘There is a Madness in My Mind’, Cer Modern, Ankara, Türkiye
  28. 2012
    ‘Encounter: The Royal Academy in the Middle East’, Doha, Qatar
  29. ‘Le Jardin de la Spéculation Cosmique’, curated by Fatoş Üstek, Galerist, Istanbul, Türkiye
  30. ‘9th Shanghai Biennale’, Istanbul Pavillion, Shanghai, China
  31. ‘Encounters: Turkish Contemporary Art in Korea’, ARA Art Square, Seoul, South Korea
  32. ‘Campaign’, curated by Amy–Smith Stewart, C24 Gallery, New York, USA
  33. 2010
    ‘Blind Dates: New Encounters from the Edges of a Former Empire’, Pratt Manhattan Gallery, New York, USA
  34. ‘Five Year Anniversary Show’, Gavlak Gallery, Palm Beach, USA
  35. ‘Istanbul Cool!’, LTMH Gallery, New York, USA
  36. 2009
    ‘A Survey of Turkish Contemporary Art’, Cuadro Fine Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE
  37. ‘Octet’, Visual Arts Gallery, New York, USA
  38. ‘Pink Panther’, Kumukumu Gallery, New York, USA
  39. ‘Octet’, curated by Suzanne Anker and Peter Hristoff, Pera Museum, Istanbul, Türkiye
  40. 2008
    ‘Fresh’, C.A.M Galeri, Istanbul, Türkiye
  41. ‘Another Peep Show’, Smith-Stewart, New York, USA
  42. 2007
    ‘Dream of Today’, Steve Turner Contemporary, Los Angeles, USA
  43. ‘Foam of the Daze’, Smith-Stewart, New York, USA
  44. ‘Omnia Vanitas’, Gavlak, West Palm Beach, USA
  45. ‘Sobe!’, curated by Leyla Gediz, Bilsar, Istanbul, Türkiye
  46. ‘Special Reserve’, Gavlak, West Palm Beach, USA
  47. 2006
    ‘View (Eleven): Upstate’, Mary Boone Gallery, New York, USA
  48. ‘Flaming June’, Spanierman Modern, New York, USA
  49. ‘Works on Paper’, Galerist, Istanbul, Türkiye
  50. ‘WPA/C 2006 Art Auction’, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., USA
  51. 2005
    ‘Greater New York’, P.S.1/MOMA Contemporary Art Center, New York, USA
  52. ‘The ArtReview 25: Emerging US Artists’, Phillips de Pury & Company East Gallery, New York, USA
  53. ‘Absolute Summer Show’, Kirkhoff, Copenhagen, Denmark
  54. 2004
    ‘Eye of the Needle’, Roberts & Tilton Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
  55. ‘Low Life’, Kustera Tilton Gallery, New York, USA
  56. ‘Summer Show: Seven Big Paintings’, Kenny Schachter ConTEMPorary, New York, USA
  57. 2003
    ‘Peter Coffin with Brett Milspaw, Jan Mancuska, Ara Peterson, Elif Uras, Andrew Kreps’, Gallery, New York, USA
  58. ‘Organized Conflict’, Proje4L, Istanbul Museum of Contemporary Art, Istanbul, Türkiye
  59. ‘Regarding Amy’, Greene Naftali Gallery, New York, USA
  60. ‘MFA Thesis Exhibition’, Columbia University, Studebaker Building, New York, USA
  61. 2002
    ‘The Kids are Alright’, ATM Gallery, New York, USA
  62. ‘Returning MFA Show’, LeRoy Neiman Gallery, New York, USA
  63. ‘Columbia University First-Year MFA Exhibition’, Wallach Gallery, New York, USA
  64. ‘Mondo Cane’, LeRoy Neiman Gallery, Columbia University, New York, USA
  65. 2026
    ‘ Upon a Rock, I Grew ’, Galerist, İstanbul, Türkiye
  66. ‘Pleasant Smells and Warm Fellowships: Scent in Islamic Ceramics’, curated by Regatu Asefa, Gardiner Museum, Toronto, Canada

Publications

  1. 2018
    Elif Uras, edited by Leyla İpek Ulusoy Akgül, texts by Ahu Antmen, Kathy Battista, Amy Smith-Stewart, Leyla İpek Ulusoy Akgül, and Merve Ünsal, Galerist Publications