Born in 1957 in Istanbul, Mithat Şen graduated from Painting Department in Marmara Fine Arts University. He did his first solo exhibition in Istanbul in 1982. He attended 44th Venice Biennale in 1990. The artist lives and works in Istanbul.

 

Mithat Şen painting carries the key of a meaning matrix about the geography it belongs to, as well as what it signifies on its own as an object of art. Body studies, which can be seen in the patterns and acrylic paintings that the artist made in the 80's transcend the human body over time and only reveal themselves it turns into a 13-part schema that signifies and is recreated over and over again with form relations. With this 13-letter alphabet, Mithat Şen builds his painting on a systematic basis on the part-whole principles of the geography he is tied to and continues with repetition and variation just like nature does. This body which the artist has been repeating for almost 40 years finds form on the surface of canvas or paper with oil paint, acrylic, watercolor, charcoal, uncovered by scraping from the surface of the canvas, linen, all sorts of fabrics and parchment, lately sculptures made with materials like marble, stainless steel and metal.