Cem A.

Cem A. is an artist with a background in anthropology. He is known for running the art meme page @freeze_magazine and for his site-specific installations. His work explores themes such as virality and performativity, often through collaborative projects.

Cem A.’s selected solo exhibitions and installations include Louisiana Museum, Barbican Centre, ZKM Karlsruhe, Berlinische Galerie, Künstlerhaus Bethanien and Museum Wiesbaden. His work was also included in documenta fifteen, Istanbul Modern, Mudam Luxembourg, Klima Biennale Vienna and 14. Biennial of Young Artists, Museum of Contemporary Art Skopje. He has held lectures at Royal College of Art London, HEAD Geneva, HDK Valand and Universität der Künste Berlin.

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Interview with Ben Davis, Artnet, January 2024

Interview with Shanti Escalante-De Mattei, ARTNews, July 2023

Interview with Dorian Batycka, Artnet, September 2022

The New York Times, March 2021

Selected Works

Solo Exhibitions and Installations

Selected Group Exhibitions

Performances

Selected Talks, Lectures and Workshops

Selected Press

Merchandise

Publications

Residencies and Institutional Collaborations

Selected Works

Solo Exhibitions and Installations

Zentrum für Kritik und Memes (Center for Critique and Memes), ZKM, Karlsruhe, 2024 (ongoing)

They don't know, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, 2024

Joseph Beuys Says…, Museum Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden, 2024

I Like Art Market and Art Market Likes Me, Project Art Distribution, New York, 2023

Thank You for Your Understanding, Berlinische Galerie, Berlin, 2023

Theory is My Friend, Louisiana Museum, Humlebæk, 2023

Tack!, Parse Journal, HDK Valand, Gothenburg, 2023

Pleased to announce…, Versus Art Project, Istanbul, 2022

Hope You See Me As a Friend, Barbican Centre, London, 2022

The Party, Weserhalle, Berlin, 2021

Selected Group Exhibitions

Coding Culture – Emojis, Memes, Museum, MARKK Hamburg, Hamburg (forthcoming)

Duty of Care, Griffith University Art Museum, Brisbane (ongoing)

Klima Biennale, Vienna, 2024

Timeless Curiosities, Istanbul Modern, Istanbul, 2024

Seekult Festival, Friedrichshafen, 2023

After Laughter Comes Tears, MUDAM, Luxembourg, 2023

Karma Coma, Anna Laudel Gallery, Bodrum, 2023

FLUXUS S(I)EX TIES, Museum Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden, 2023

Humor, Loved, Frowned Upon, Feared, Vögele Kultur Zentrum, Pfäffikon, 2023

Galeriefest, Grimmwelt Museum, Kassel, 2023

14. Biennial of Young Artists, Museum of Contemporary Art, Skopje, 2023

The Art of the Football Scarf, OOF Gallery, London, 2022

documenta fifteen, Kassel, 2022

IV. Peligros de la Amistad, CPU, Palacio Barolo, Buenos Aires, 2021

Memennial 2020, Seattle; Dallas, 2020

Performances

2024

Crit Club with Özge Ersoy and Molemo Moiloa, The Couch by Het HEM, Zaandam (forthcoming)

Crit Club with Nikola Bojić, Bettina Freimann, Fette Sans, Abbas Zahedi, Organ Vida Festival, Zagreb

Crit Club with Ben Davis and Mi You, The Couch by Het HEM, Zaandam

Crit Club with Farid Rakun and Övül Ö. Durmuşoğlu, The Couch by Het HEM, Zaandam

Crit Club with Kara Chin, Jitish Kallat, Wang Tuo and Steph Huang, Art Basel Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Crit Club with Kate Brown, Moshtari Hilal, Ahmet Öğüt and Abbas Zahedi, Trauma Bar, Berlin

2023

Crit Club with Lucia Pietroiusti and Nora Sternfeld, The Couch by Het HEM, Zaandam

Crit Club with Renzo Martens and Karim Sultan, The Couch by Het HEM, Zaandam

Sticker Vendor Comes to Mudam, Mudam, Luxembourg

2022

Sticker Vendor Comes to Radio Alhara, documenta fifteen, Kassel

Sticker Vendor Comes to Gudskul, documenta fifteen, Kassel

Selected Talks, Lectures and Workshops

2025

Meme-thinking workshop with Harley Aussoleil and Frances Breden, MARKK Hamburg, Hamburg (forthcoming)

2024

Crit Club Workshop, documenta Institut, Kassel (forthcoming)

Crit Club Workshop, Para Site, Hong Kong

Meme-thinking Workshop, Museum of Contemporary Art, Skopje

Meme-thinking Workshop series, Klima Biennale, Vienna

In Conversation with Sophie Publig, Klima Biennale, Vienna

Artist’s talk, Eaton, Hong Kong

Artist’s talk, Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong

Meme-thinking Workshop, Non-conference, ZKM, Karlsruhe

Short course leader, HEAD Genève, Geneva

2023

Artist’s talk with Klaus Speidel, Crit Cross, Depot, Vienna

Meme-thinking Workshop, Diversity Week, University of Kassel

Artist’s talk, Brand New Art, Kraków

Lecture, Pratt Institute, New York

Meme-thinking Workshop with Frances Breden, Pop-Kultur Festival, Berlin

Panelist, Burn Out Symposium, E-WERK Luckenwalde, Berlin

Fluxus Goes Digital with @staedelschule_memes and Prof. Dr. Tilman Baumgärtel, Museum Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden

Lecture hosted by documenta Institute, University of Kassel

Lecture at Weak Signals. New Narratives in Art, Universität der Künste, Berlin

Artist’s talk with Kolja Reichert, Berlinische Galerie, Berlin

Artist’s talk hosted by Rokolectiv Festival, Suprainfinit Gallery, Bucharest

Artist’s talk with Mateo Chacón Pino, Galeriefest, Grimmwelt Museum, Kassel

Artist’s talk, Art Market Society, Columbia University, New York

Artist’s talk with Sofia Asvestopoulos, The Article, Frankfurt

Panelist, Conversations: On the Form and Function of Meme Making, Art Basel Hong Kong, Hong Kong

In conversation with Dorian Batycka, UVNT Art Fair, Madrid

The Politics and Poetics of Exhibiting in Art Museums, Louisiana Museum, Humlebæk

Artistic contribution to How be an an Artist?, convened by Frank Wasser, NCAD Gallery, Dublin

Meme making as Artistic Practice, in dialogue with Christina Tente and Daniel Jewesbury, HDK Valand, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg

Meme-thinking Workshop series, HDK Valand, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg

Meme-thinking workshop in collaboration with Harley Aussoleil and Frances Breden, Muthesius Kunsthochschule, Kiel

Artist’s talk, Rhizome Office Hours, Rhizome, New York

2022

Lecture, Istanbul Modern, Istanbul

Panelist, The Future of Critique Conference, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn

Artist’s talk with Marijn Bril at Memes Beyond Images: Memetic Tacticality Conference, Institute of Network Cultures, Amsterdam

Artistic contribution to "A Live TV Broadcast" a series of live-edited TV programs for Offener KanalKassel, as part of Joen Vedel's contribution to documenta fifteen, Kassel

Workshop in collaboration with Harley Aussoleil and Frances Breden, documenta fifteen, Kassel

Meme-thinking Workshop in collaboration with Harley Aussoleil and Frances Breden, HeK Haus der Elektronischen Künste, Basel

Lecture, Axis Graduate Programme, Wakefield

Artist's Talk, Stellwerk Gallery, Kassel

Meme-thinking Workshop, University of Stuttgart, Institute for Principles of Modern Architecture, Stuttgart

Artistic contribution to The Crit, curated by Frank Wasser, Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford

Meme-thinking Workshop with sobat-sobat, documenta fifteen, Kassel

Il Gazzettino, curated by Lukas Feireiss, Venice

Meme-thinking Workshop, Barbican Centre, London

Short Course in collaboration with Abbas Zahedi, Royal College of Art, London

2021

Lecture, Universität der Künste, Berlin