:mentalKLINIK

:mentalKLINIK is a Brussels-based artist duo from Istanbul, founded in 1998 by Yasemin Baydar and Birol Demir. Operating as a multimedia and conceptual laboratory, where “:mental” stands for thought and “KLINIK” signifies action, they merge their individual identities to create a distinct third persona. They stride with undisguised dexterity through invisible political strategies and social dynamics by ultra-contemporary devices of an apparent lightness. Like a disco ball, :mentalKLINIK shows are a selection of their multifaceted universe. Resisting the limitations of a single vocabulary or style, their world is playful and full of hedonistic appeal, festive and glamorous but also revealing, on closer view, an underlying violence suggestive of a bad trip after a party or a creepy beginning of the end.

Their works shift between emotional and robotic attitudes. The duo reclaims the sparkling and authoritative visual language of the media and night spheres in a climate of sensory hyperstimulation, engendered by multiple neons, slogans, light beams, mirror balls, and confetti, while playing with our unanimous attraction to glittering, seductive objects. It is all a work of encryption, summoning us to navigate the space between the true and the false, the artificial and the superficial, as though everything were a case of falsification. Their creations, a mix of oxymoron and paradox, are darkly humorous and self-contained, ranging from immersive time-based installations to sculptures and objects that thwart categorisation.

:mentalKLINIK’s experimental approach has been praised on numerous institutional exhibitions including Bitter Medicine#02, Borusan Contemporary, Istanbul, curated by Necmi Sonmez; FreshCut, MAK, Vienna_ Austrian Museum of applied Arts/Contemporary Art, curated by Marlies Wirth; and Co-operation Would be Highly Appreciated Exhibition at SCAD Museum GA, USA, curated by Storm Janse van Rensburg. They have participated in numerous international exhibitions including Istanbul Modern-Rotterdam at Boijmans van Beuningen Museum (Rotterdam, 2012); Izmir Triennial of Contemporary Art (Izmir, 2010); and Tomorrow, Now (MUDAM, Luxembourg, 2007). They opened an introspective at La Patinoire Royale, Brussels curated by Jerome Sans in 2018. Their selected major solo shows are, That’s Fucking Awesome curated by Jerome Sans (2011) and rABBIThOLE (2009) at Galerist, İstanbul; Thank You For your Cooperation (2014) and Truish (2017) at Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde, Dubai; 83% Satisfaction Guaranteed (2015) at Louise Alexander, Porto Cevro, Italy; Catastrophically Gorgeous (2018) curated by Yasmina Reggad and Lovelessnes (2022) at Eugster II Belgrade; Hypermoody (2022) at Sabrina Amrani Gallery, Spain; and Paradise on Sale (2023) at Dirimart, Istanbul. Their selected group shows are; Chroniques Biennale Of Digital Imagination (2022) at Panorama Friche La Belle De Mai, Marseille; Golden Room (2019) at Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille; Eldorama (2019) at Tripostal, Lille; Shake Your Body (2022) at Lago Algo, Mexico City; Racing The Galaxy (2019) at Astana Art Show, Astana.