:mentalKLINIK is a Brussels-based artist duo from Istanbul composed of Yasemin Baydar and Birol Demir who began their collaborative practice in 1998. The duo has an open laboratory approach to process, production, roles, conception and presentation. This vocabulary gives their work a relationship with different references and background. Their work is a mix of oxymora and paradoxes, darkly humorous, self-contained and as much concerned with the total effect of accelerated capitalism as with the invisible politics and dynamics that define our everyday lives. :mentalKLINIK's oeuvre is droll and can look very playful and fun but at the same time, it is violent, abrasive and very questioning of the world we live in. Eschewing themes of identity, history and memory, their works range from immersive time based installations to sculptures and objects that thwart categorization.
Read MoreIn 2020, :mentalKLINIK has exhibited with a solo show titled Bitter Medicine #01 Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade, curated by Carl de Smedt, and the second iteration of it at the Borusan Contemporary, Istanbul, Turkey. Some of their internationally renowned exhibitions include: Tomorrow Now at MUDAM, Luxembourg in 2007; PuFF at Art Basel 40 (2009), Art Unlimited, Switzerland; and solo museum shows such as Fresh- Cut (2013) at MAK, Vienna and Co-operation Would be Highly Appreciated (2015) at SCAD Museum Georgia, USA. In the Summer 2021 :mentalKLINIK will present their first solo exhibition in Madrid at Sabrina Amrani.
Text courtesy Sabrina Amrani.