Until 20 November 2025, Sevil Dolmacı Gallery Dubai is hosting Unfolded Layers, a solo exhibition by Turkish-born artist Ahmet Oran. The show presents a new series of works that reflects Oran’s exploration of surface, memory, and the dynamic process of painting.
Known for his tactile, meditative approach, Oran applies thick layers of paint and then tears, scrapes, or cuts through them, revealing traces of earlier gestures and moments of action. The result is a visual record of creation and erasure. His canvases feel both architectural and emotional: spaces where abstraction becomes a form of introspection rather than representation.
Oran’s paintings on view draw the viewer into the temporal depth of the painting process itself. Broad swathes of muted colour, intricate lines, and subtle textural shifts evoke the sensation of time sedimented on the surface. The artist’s measured palette and deliberate gestures create an atmosphere that is contemplative yet intense.
With its layered compositions and textured expanses, Unfolded Layers underscores Oran’s commitment to revealing the act of painting itself: its gestures, pauses, and erasures. The exhibition invites visitors to slow down and witness this process as both material and metaphorical excavation.
About the artist
Ahmet Oran (b. 1957, Çanakkale, Turkey) divides his time between Istanbul and Vienna (Austria). He studied at the Istanbul Academy of Fine Arts between 1977 and 1980 under Prof. Adnan Çoker. He continued his education at the Vienna University of Applied Arts, where he studied painting, stained glass, and graphics with Professors Carl Unger and Adolf Frohner, graduating in 1987.
Oran has developed a practice that transcends regional boundaries, shaped by both the disciplined clarity of European abstraction and the expressive sensibility of Turkish modernism. Over the decades, he has replaced traditional brushes with spatulas and wooden tools, emphasising the physical engagement between the artist and the painted surface.
Oran has displayed his works in various exhibitions and art events, such as Art Cologne 2025; Contemporary Istanbul 2024; 10 years bechter kastowsky gallery! (bechter kastowsky gallery, Vienna, 2022); and Abu Dhabi Art 2017, among others.
To get more information about Unfolded Layers, please visit the official web page of the exhibition.
In addition, you might be interested in exploring The Only Way Out Is Through: The Twentieth Line.
