Adekan is an artistic name of Engin ADEKA , who was born in Kadıköy 1991 and raised partly in the industrial city of Gebze, Adekan’s artistic journey began during his teenage years with graffiti and street art. The city’s stark urban texture sparked a lasting interest in the relationship between space and the individual. Over time, this raw and direct form of expression evolved into a more figurative and conceptual practice, exploring how the body and the spaces it inhabits shape one another.
In his street works, walls are treated not as passive surfaces but as active components of their surroundings; architectural details and environmental textures are woven into each composition. His practice often addresses the emotional tension between nature and the city, transforming personal experiences into public narratives within the free and democratic space of the street.
Rather than merely decorating urban facades, Adekan aims to create layered dialogues—between the work and its environment, between the individual and society, and between personal memory and shared experience—turning public space into a field of reflection on identity, space, and belonging.
EDUCATION
2018–2022 — Tekirdağ Namık Kemal University, Institute of Social Sciences, Master Degree in Painting
2012–2016 — Marmara University, Faculty of Atatürk Education, Undergraduate in Art Education, Printmaking
2009–2011 — Kocaeli University, Associate Degree in Electronic Technology
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 — One For All, Galeri Vitrin – Goethe-Institut, Ankara
2023 — Days, Yermekan, Ankara
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 — 7th Biennale Internationale d’Art Non Objectif, Satellite Event, Istanbul
2022 — Real Life, Mamut Art Project, Istanbul
2019 — The Smell of Trees, Painting Exhibition based on a Theatre Script, ModaSahnesi, Istanbul
2018 — Artist Experience, 28th Istanbul Art Fair, Istanbul
The Three Eyes of the Chest, Kasa Gallery, Istanbul
2017 — Inside Out, Tight Aggressive, Istanbul
2016 — ICAF (Istanbul Comics Art Festival), Graffiti Performance, Istanbul
2015 — Messy, Boğaziçi University, Istanbul
2014 — Marmara University Corridor Exhibition, Istanbul
Bazaart, Painting Exhibition, Istanbul
2013 — Meeting of All Stars, Graffiti Performance, Istanbul