Dirimart was founded by Hazer Özil and Zihni Özil in 2002. The sizeable stark white one-room space in Nişantaşı might be a conventional look for a gallery, but the bright, unique and important works hanging on its walls or standing on its floor are anything but. The gallery also has a temporary project space in Karaköy, where some additional shows are staged.

Dirimart stages 8–10 shows per year, spanning the whole range of disciplines. Likewise, Dirimart’s roster has some very influential names from Turkey, Europe, the Middle East and beyond working in many disciplines.

The gallery represents Yüksel Arslan, who famously left Istanbul in 1961 for Paris and didn’t exhibit in his homeland until a retrospective exhibition was staged at Santral Istanbul in 2009; the experimental Austrian artist and one of the founders of Vienna Actionism, Hermann Nitsch; the German painter and installation artist Franz Ackermann; Goldsmiths graduate Paul Morrison, known for his large monochromatic botanical landscapes; the Iranian visual artist Shirin Neshat; the Egyptian artist Ghada Amer; the Argentinian artist Fabian Marcaccio, one of the leading proponents of the ‘Paintant’ form; young Turkish talent Ebru Uygun; and the artist duo Özlem Günyol & Mustafa Kunt, amongst others.