Pg Art Gallery, founded by Pırıl Güleşçi Arıkonmaz in 1993 in Bebek, hosted hundreds of exhibitions with the leading names of Turkish Art in its first years. One of the first galleries of Turkey’s contemporary art scene, Pg Art Gallery, in the 1990’s pioneered in exhibiting the first works of artists who would go on to become known names in art in Turkey. As a continuation to the care in the importance of art practices evolving from grassroots beginnings, in recent years again, the gallery gravitated to support freshly up and coming artists.
In order to be closer to the gallery gathering center, Pg Art Gallery moved from Bebek to one of Istanbul’s historic city centers, Tophane, in 2010. Even though the focus is still Turkey, as part of Pg Art Gallery’s internationalization, as off the mid-2000’s, it started to take part in international art fairs and developed a series of cooperations with like-minded galleries and business partners.
In order to discover, support and share independent young artists, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of its establishment in 2018, it came to realize Pg Pop Up in Maslak and Pg Basement in the lower floor of the anteriorly main gallery space anteriorly located in Çukurcuma. The alternative exhibition space Pg Pop Up that was opened in Maslak in 2018 to make art part of daily life, enabled the gallery to become integrated with the area, moved to Maslak No. 171 in February 2021. In the adaptation to the global transformation caused by the pandemic, a platform named Pg Online was launched in May 2020 in order to organize virtual exhibitions.
The changes in Pg Art Gallery’s program are not only the reflection of the serious transformation of Turkey’s art scene in recent years but also the reflection of the gallery’s own globalization process.
