Taylan Ünal (born 1982) is a Turkish artist who lives in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. His work includes

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

drawing Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...

s and

street art Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. It has been associated with the terms "independent art", "post-graffiti", "neo-graffiti" and guerrilla art. Street art has evolved from the early forms of defiant graff ...

Biography

Born in Istanbul, Ünal graduated from the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Painting Department in 2011. He lives and works in

Beyoğlu Beyoğlu (, ota, بك‌اوغلی, script=Arab) is a district on the European side of İstanbul, Turkey, separated from the old city (historic peninsula of Constantinople) by the Golden Horn. It was known as the region of Pera (Πέρα, meani ...

, Istanbul.

Work

In his work, Ünal focuses on oil painting and drawings. Ünal uses the effect of deformation in his paintings and refers to ideas of the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

Gilles Deleuze Gilles Louis René Deleuze ( , ; 18 January 1925 – 4 November 1995) was a French philosopher who, from the early 1950s until his death in 1995, wrote on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volu ...

and the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

artist

Jackson Pollock Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. He was widely noticed for his " drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household paint onto a hor ...

. His work revolves around the dualism between the chaos around human beings and inside them. His portraits are often based on abstract-

expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

. Ünal seeks to understand the feeling of not belonging to anywhere, a body without

organs In biology, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in a structural unit to serve a common function. In the hierarchy of life, an organ lies between tissue and an organ system. Tissues are formed from same type cells to act together in a fu ...

identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), ...

and the wish to flee. Whereas his

portrait A portrait is a portrait painting, painting, portrait photography, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, Personality type ...

s have been perceived as characters with worries, Ünal prefers an interpretation of an

architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings o ...

structure with dual identities. Ünal also worked as street artist in cities like Istanbul and

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. In his large wall paintings, he deforms faces and expressions to give emotional asset a different language. In 2021, Ünal has published "100faces" collection in Opensea, so that he became an

NFT A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided, that is recorded in a blockchain, and that is used to certify authenticity and ownership. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the ...

artist.

Exhibitions

Ünal's work has been exhibited with a number of solo and group exhibitions: 2021 * Pop-up group exhibition, PG Art Gallery, Istanbul. 2020 * Pop-up group exhibition, PG Art Gallery, Istanbul. 2019 * International group exhibition for "World Art Day", Adnan Saygun Art Center, Izmir. * Pop-up group exhibition, PG Art Gallery, Istanbul. 2018 * Group exhibition, Karaköy Kolektif, Istanbul. * Pop-up group exhibition, PG Art Gallery, Istanbul. 2017 * Group exhibition, Karaköy Kolektif, Istanbul. 2015 * Otonorm (solo exhibition), Galeri Artist Çukurcuma, Istanbul. 2014 * 7th group exhibition, Tio Ilar International Art Exhibition, Athens. 2013 * 6th group exhibition, Tio Ilar International Art Exhibition, Athens. * Solo exhibition, Galeri Artist Çukurcuma, Istanbul. * 6th group exhibition, Greek consulate generale (Şişmanoğlu megaro), Istanbul.

References

External links

Taylan Ünal Website

Taylan Ünal Instagram profile

Taylan Ünal Behance profile

Video portrait on Imoga Channel (in Turkish)

Interview with Gazete Bilkent (in Turkish)

Portrait on oldmag.net (in Turkish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ünal, Taylan Turkish artists Street artists 1982 births Living people 20th-century Turkish people 20th-century Turkish painters 21st-century Turkish people 21st-century Turkish painters