Bedri Baykam
BIOGRAPHY
Bedri Baykam was born in Ankara, Turkey, in 1957.
Bedri Baykam is one of Turkey's most internationally renowned artists. He has presented international exhibitions since the age of six and continues to do so around the world today.
He studied at the Sorbonne and the drama school L'Actorat in Paris between 1975 and 1980. He lived in California from 1980 to 1987, where he studied painting and filmmaking at the California College of Arts and Crafts (CCAC). He returned to Turkey in 1987 to establish his studio.
He has organized 152 solo exhibitions worldwide, in addition to numerous group exhibitions. Baykam is one of the pioneers of the Abstract Expressionist movement and multimedia political art. He also became one of the graffiti artists who changed the face of New York in the 1980s. By bringing large-scale works, politics, and eroticism to the contemporary art scene, which he has standardized since the 1980s, the artist began producing "4D" (four-dimensional) works that have attracted significant attention worldwide, as an extension of his series of transparent layers enriched with digital imagery and various transparencies on which he has worked for the past two decades.
He is the author of 32 published books, and there are 52 catalogs and 8 books about his works.
Baykam, one of the founders of the International Association of Plastic Arts, affiliated with UNESCO, served as the president of the Turkish National Committee of this organization for 18 years and continues to contribute as Honorary President. In 2015, at the 18th General Assembly of the International Association of Art (AIAP/IAA), the official partner of UNESCO, held in Pilsen, Czech Republic, Bedri Baykam was elected World President and held this position for seven and a half years. He handed over the presidency to the Korean president at the 19th Extraordinary General Assembly of AIAP/IAA held in Istanbul in 2023 and became the Honorary President of the IAA.
In 2011, Baykam’s proposal to create a World Art Day on the birthday of Leonardo da Vinci, during the 17th General Assembly of the IAA in Guadalajara, Mexico, was unanimously accepted by the participating countries. Since then, each year, a growing number of artists' associations in many countries celebrate "World Art Day," with various art forms blending harmoniously. In 2019, UNESCO accepted the proposal brought by Baykam, as World President of the IAA, and World Art Day officially became one of UNESCO's International Days.
Still active in politics, Baykam, who was a member of the Assembly of the Social Democratic Party (CHP) and a presidential candidate for that party in 2003, continues to be one of the most active intellectual and political figures of the opposition.
Baykam has also been a general columnist for several publications. He currently writes for the oldest daily, “Cumhuriyet.”
The artist founded Piramid Film and Publishing (1998) and Piramid Sanat (art center, 2006) at Taksim Square in Istanbul, one of the most active and independent spots for contemporary art. He has also curated several group exhibitions.
Baykam primarily lives and works in Istanbul; he is married to journalist and writer Sibel Baykam, and their son, Suphi Baykam, was born in 1999.
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Selected individual exhibitions
1966
• Acadèmia de Belles Arts, Sabadell, Espagne.
1967
• Palau Maricel, Sitges, Espagne.
1970
• Acadèmia de Belles Arts, Sabadell, Espagne.
1973
• Sala Gaudi, Normalisme, Barcelone, Espagne.
1975
• Galerie Mathias Fels, Espace hors temps, Paris, France.
1976
• Galerie Maeght, La Petite valise, Barcelone, Espagne.
• Galerie d’Eendt, Amsterdam, Pays-Bas.
• Galerie Fabien Boulakia, Contrejour, Paris, France.
1977
• Galerie Beaubourg, Laboratoire d’attente I, Paris, France.
1979
• Galerie Beaubourg, Laboratoire d’attente II, Paris, France.
• Galerie Alain Digard, Paris, France.
• Salo del Tinell, Nacionalisme universal, Barcelone, Espagne.
1981
• Galerie Jan de Maere, Bruxelles, Belgique.
• Casino de Knokke-le-Zoute, Belgique.
• Galerie Jan de Maere, FIAC, Grand Palais, Paris, France.
1982
• Maison de la Culture de Grenoble, L’Inflation du point, France.
• Galerie Flora, Paris, France.
1983
• Galerie Flora, Psychosynthesis, ARCO, Madrid, Espagne.
• Hastings Fundation, New York, États-Unis.
• Gallery Wall, Scottsdale, Arizona, États-Unis.
• Gallery Wall, Santa Fe, New Mexico, États-Unis.
• Galerie Flora, FIAC, Grand Palais, Paris, France.
1984
• Centre d’Art de la Ville de Mâcon, France.
1985
• Palais Garnier, Seuil de la caverne, Rotondes du Jour et de la Nuit, Paris, France.
• Maison de la Culture du Havre, France.
• Institut Franco-Japonais, Psychosynthesis, Tokyo, Japon.
• Takagi Gallery, Nagoya, Japon.
• ABC Gallery, Osaka, Japon.
1986
• Museum of Kitakyu Shu, Japon.
• Museum of Fukuoka, Japon.
• Col.legi d’Arquitectes Tècnics de Barcelona, Espagne.
• Galerie Flora, Paris, France.
• Galerie Salvador, Psychosynthesis, Paris, France.
1987
• Galerie de l’Hôtel de Ville de Villeurbanne, Seuil de la caverne, France.
• Musée Goya, Castres, France.
1988
• Institut d’Estudis Ilerdencs, Implicació, Lleida, Espagne.
• Ajuntament d’Ager, Lleida, Espagne.
• Jornades d’Art Contemporani, Formentera, Îles Baléares, Espagne.
• Galería AB, Granollers, Espagne.
1989
• Galerie du Centre, Confluence, Paris, France.
• Bella & Sioma Baram Gallery, Formentera, Espagne.
• Galería Susany, Vic, Espagne.
1990
• Galería Lola Cerdan, Obra recent, Barcelone, Espagne.
• Galería Central, Sabadell, Espagne.
• Galerie Fiat & Doye, Paris, France.
1991
• Galerie du Centre, Paris, France.
• Bella & Sioma Baram Gallery, Formentera, Îles Baléares, Espagne.
1992
• Sala Gaspar, Chromocosmos, Barcelone, Espagne.
1993
• Galerie Kiron, Contribution à l’étude…, Paris, France.
1994
• Galería AB, Granollers, Espagne.
• Galería Susany, Vic, Espagne.
• Galería Ignasi Boixareu, Sabadell, Espagne.
• Sa Nostra, Ibiza, Espagne.
1995
• Galería Oda, Interior, Barcelone. Espagne.
• Galerie Lucien Schweitzer, Luxembourg.
• Galerie Kiron, Intérieur, Paris, France.
1996
• Alliance Française, Casa Taulé, Sabadell, Espagne.
1997
• Galerie Kiron, Mesopotamia, Paris, France.
1998
• Kiron Gallery, Mesopotamia, Dallas-Fortworth, États-Unis.
1999
• Acadèmia de Belles Arts, Sabadell, Espagne.
• Siège de Météo-France, Pr. Dr. Freud, Paris, France.
2002
• Galerie Ollier, L’Empire du vide, Fribourg, Suisse.
• Galería Àmbit, L’Imperi del buit, Barcelone, Espagne.
2003
• Galerie Salvador, L’Empire du vide II, Paris. France.
2005
• Natus Art Gallery, Shanghai, Chine.
• Galerie Ollier, Alignement, Fribourg, Suisse.
• Acadèmia de Belles Arts, Sabadell, Espagne.
• Alliance Française, Sabadell, Espagne.
• Sa Nostra, Formentera, Îles Baléares, Espagne.
• Shanghai Art Fair, Équations, Chine.
• Maison de la Catalogne, Paris, France.
2006
• Galerie Noordeinde, La Haye, Pays-Bas.
• Villa Tamaris centre d’art, La Pintura de Taulé (rétrospective), La Seyne-sur-mer, Toulon,
France.
2008
• Galerie Noordeinde, Art Paris, Grand Palais, Paris, France.
2009
• Église de Sully-sur-Loire, France.
2010
• Fundació Vila Casas, La Magie du silence, Barcelone, Espagne.
2011
• Galerie Noordeinde, Art Élysées, Paris, France.
• Església de Sant Francesc Xavier, Formentera, Îles Baléares, Espagne.
• Ajuntament Vell de Sant Francesc Xavier, Formentera, Balearic Islands.
• Galerie Julio Gonzalez, Identité Altérité, Arcueil, France.
2012
• Besharat Gallery, Identity-Alterity, Atlanta, Géorgie, États-Unis.
• Centre d’études catalanes, Les Cercles, Université Paris Sorbonne, France.
2013
• Galerie Forêt verte, Paris, France.
• Alcazar, Paris, France.
• Apparao Galleries, New Delhi, Inde.
• Galerie Artrial, Perpignan, France.
• Instituto Cervantes, Julio Cortázar, Paris, France.
2014
• Galerie Noordeinde, La Haye, Pays-Bas.
• Maison Elsa Triolet-Aragon, Saint Arnoult-en-Yvelines, France.
• Besharat Gallery, Barbizon, France.
• Galerie Photo12, Art-Élysées, Paris, France.
2015
• Besharat Gallery, Atlanta, États-Unis.
• Villa Arconati, Milan, Italie.
2016
• Instituto Cervantes de Paris, Interior, France.
• Galerie BOA, Interior, Paris, France.
• Photo12, Interior, Paris, France.
• Galerie Alain Daudet, Toulouse, France.
• Instituto Cervantes de Toulouse, France.
• Galerie Linz, New York, États-Unis.
2017
• Fundació Stämpfli, Lux, Sitges (Barcelone), Espagne.
• Artalroc, Escaldes-Engordany, Principauté d’Andorre.
2018
• Galerie Photo12, Paris, France.
• Galerie Schwab Beaubourg, Paris, France.
2019
• Nexus Hall Chanel, Tokyo, Japon.
• Gallery XII, Los Angeles, USA.
• Fondació Palau Fabra, Caldes d'Estrac, Barcelona, Espagne.
2025
• Galerie S/Beaubourg, Paris, France.
Selected collections
• Centre national d’art contemporain (CNAC), Paris, France.
• Musée d’art moderne de la Ville de Paris, France.
• Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA), Espagne.
• Museu Art 2000, Torroella de Montgri, Espagne.
• Musée de Besançon, France.
• Musée de Pau, France.
• Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelone, France.
• Maison de la Culture de Grenoble, France.
• Hastings Foundation, New York, États-Unis.
• Mairie de Montrouge, France.
• Fonds national d’art contemporain (FNAC), Paris, France.
• Maison de la culture du Havre, France.
• Mairie de Villeurbanne, France.
• Maison Elsa Triolet-Aragon, Saint Arnoult-en-Yvelines, France.
• Consell Insular de Formentera, Îles Baléares, Espagne.
• Tour d’Argent, Tokyo, Japon.
• Radio France internationale (RFI), Paris, France.
• Météo France, Paris et Toulouse, France.
• Villa Tamaris centre d’art, La Seyne-sur-mer, France.
• Fundació Vila Casas, Barcelone, Espagne.
• Acadèmia de Belles Arts de Sabadell, Espagne.
• Bibliothèque nationale de Luxembourg.
• Fundació Sa Nostra, Ibiza, Îles Baléares, Espagne.
• Fundació Stämpfli, Sitges, Espagne.
• Fundació Palau de Caldes d’Estrac, Espagne.
• Fundació La Caixa, Barcelone, Espagne.
• Fundació Banc de Sabadell, Espagne.