BAYSAN YÜKSEL

She was born in Bursa in 1984. After graduating from Istanbul Bilgi University's Sociology department in 2007, she completed her master's degree in the Painting department of Marmara University Fine Arts Institute in 2010. Since 2006, she has been participating in exhibitions both domestically and internationally, continuing her work in her studio in Istanbul. She produces interdisciplinary works that question concepts such as routines, beliefs, traditions, and consumer culture. In this sense, she prefers to use dreams and universal symbols as indicators that point to the collective subconscious. In this context, she defines her works as narrative storytelling. Painting, drawing, collage, three-dimensional objects, artist books, video, installation, and writing are some of the disciplines she prefers. She sees all kinds of surfaces; canvas, paper, wall, or found objects as tools to convey these stories she collects from within and from the outside world.

Her recent works consist of paintings and three-dimensional assemblages that resemble sequences of dark fairy tales, using snake and octopus symbols intensively to reflect individual and societal confrontations. In these works, the snake symbol emphasizes transformation, renewal, and rebirth, while the flexible and multi-limbed anatomy of the octopus represents the tension and anxiety created by variable and unknown emotions.

18 products

Exhibitions

Selected Solo Exhibitions:

2018 Unknown Limbs, Büyükdere 35, Istanbul
2015 Serpent, ArtNext Istanbul
2015 Serpent, ArtNext Istanbul
2013 Wild West- Artnext Istanbul
2009 Baysan Yüksel, Artist Books –UWE, Bristol, England 6 July
2007 Plastic City, Under Construction-Istanbul

Selected Group Exhibitions:

2020 3 Women 3 Paths, Halka Art Project x Step Istanbul
2020 And Then: Stories About What Happens Next, Agitator Gallery, Chicago
2020 The Goddess Within Me, Swissôtel The Bosphorus w. art50, Istanbul
2020 Horses Flowing in the Wind or Flying from the Nest, Halka Art Project, Istanbul
2019 Myths and Dreams, Kıraathane İstanbul, Istanbul
2019 Printed '19 “Multiple Choice”, Mixer Art, Istanbul
2019 Indifference Festival, Halka Art Project, Istanbul
2018 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Casa Dell'Arte, Bodrum
2018 A New Life, METU Sanat '19, Ankara
2017 Tactical Stance, Cer Modern, Ankara
2016 Profiler, Gallery Bu, Art50, Istanbul
2016 A Season in Hell, Alan Istanbul
2015 Mamut Art Project, Küçük Ciftlik Park, Istanbul
2013 Entropy- Chaos and Tao, ArtNext Istanbul
2013 5th International Artists Book Exhibition, King St. Stephen Museum, Hungary
2012 Persona, Art Next Istanbul
2012 Year of the Dragon, Milk Gallery & Design Store, Istanbul
2012 Cut & Paste, Gallery İlayda, Istanbul
2012 Collage Box London, Mileskm, London
2012 Gallery Black and White Presents: Edition, Ankara, 24 March
2011 Human Condition, Hush Gallery, Istanbul
2011 Indoor Graffiti, Alan Istanbul Lucca, Istanbul
2011 Destroy Istanbul, Neurotitan Gallery, Berlin
2010 Artium Modern, Istanbul
2010 Drawgasmic, 2720 Art Dimensions Gallery, St Louis, MO, USA
2010 Labyrint 09 – Writings and Observations – Botkyrka Konsthall, Sweden
2009 Die Zeit of Drawing- Climate Gallery, Long Island City, New York, USA
2009 2nd Showcase- Espai Cromatic Gallery- Tarragona, Spain,
2009 Fear of God, Istanbul-off-spaces / Kunst-Raum, Berlin, Germany
2008 Real Presence, Belgrade Heritage House – Belgrade, Serbia