Bedri Baykam is a Turkish artist.

Early life

Baykam was born in Ankara, Turkey. Baykam's father, Dr. Suphi Baykam, is a deputy in the Turkish parliament, and his mother, Mutahhar Baykam, is an

architectural engineer Architectural engineers apply and theoretical knowledge to the engineering design of buildings and building systems. The goal is to engineer high performance buildings that are sustainable, economically viable and ensure the safety health. Archi ...

. Baykam studied at

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University (french: Sorbonne Université; la Sorbonne: 'the Sorbonne') is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sor ...

in Paris from 1975 to 1980 and earned an MBA degree. During this time, he studied drama in L'Actorat, Paris. He lived in California from 1980 to 1987, studied painting and film-making at California College of Arts and Crafts, in Oakland. He returned to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

in 1987 to live in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

. Baykam played tennis throughout the 70s placing well at the Turkey Tennis Championships.

Career

He had solo exhibitions in many countries, in addition to participating in group shows.

Author

As of 2018 he had authored eighteen books, five on art (one in English), and eleven on politics. ''Monkeys' Right to Paint'' (published in Turkish and English), documents the plight of non-western artists and criticizes the western art establishment for its western-biased

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

. Baykam wrote a controversial novel ''The Bone'', published in December 2000. A turn of the Century novel it ranged through sex, death, philosophy of new sciences, technology and spying. ''The Bone'' was published in English in 2005. Baykam published a two volume autobiography. In it he claims that as a child he was seen as "the creator of the 21st century school of art". Baykam claims that he was compared to artists like

Klee Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented wi ...

Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...

, Dufy, Saul and Steinberg. He refers to this book as "The most detailed autobiography ever written on earth" and compares himself to Mozart.

Artist

Baykam is a pioneer of the

Neo-Expressionism Neo-expressionism is a style of late modernist or early-postmodern painting and sculpture that emerged in the late 1970s. Neo-expressionists were sometimes called ''Transavantgarde'', '' Junge Wilde'' or ''Neue Wilden'' ('The new wild ones'; 'Ne ...

movement and of multimedia and photo-painting political art. Beginning in the 1980s, he directed

16 mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, edu ...

short films and has acted in Turkish feature films.

Associations

He works with associations such as the Association for the Support of Contemporary Living and Atatürkist Thought Association. He is one of the founders of the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

-AIAP-IAA International Association of artists Turkish National Committee. On 18 October, Baykam was elected as the World President of UNESCOIAA/AIAP.

Politician

Between 1995 and 1998, he was an elected member of the Party Assembly of the social-democratic Republican People's Party. Baykam was a candidate for the Presidency of this Party in October 2003. He is one of the most outspoken defenders of Kemalism.

Journalist

Baykam founded and directed the monthly art magazine ''Skala'' between 2000 and 2002. He writes for the daily ''

Cumhuriyet ''Cumhuriyet'' (; English: " Republic") is the oldest up-market Turkish daily newspaper. It has been described as "the most important independent public interest newspaper in contemporary Turkey". The newspaper was awarded the ''Freedom of Pr ...

'', and art and political magazines. He frequently wrote for the left-wing Turkish Left. He heads the Patriotic Movement. He showed at Alphonse Berber Gallery and Broadway Gallery.

Film

Baykam is the founder of the film production and publishing compan
Piramid and Piramid Art Center
both based in

References

External links

Official website"Interview with Bedri Baykam", ''Bak Magazine''Atif Unaldi - Bedri Baykam 1
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baykam, Bedri Living people California College of the Arts alumni University of Paris alumni People from Ankara Turkish painters Turkish former Muslims Turkish atheism activists Turkish male tennis players Stabbing survivors Turkish victims of crime Turkish expatriates in France Turkish expatriates in the United States Year of birth missing (living people)