Painter and writer
(b. 26 April 1957, Ankara). He took up painting when he was two years old. He
attended the İstanbul French High School and graduated from Paris Pantheon
Sorbonne University (1979). He received a master's degree at Sorbonne University,
Faculty of Business Administration. Meanwhile, he attended courses on acting at
a private school called L’Actorat. The artist, who moved to America in 1980,
attended lectures on painting and cinema at California College of Arts and
Crafts until 1984. Baykam, who stayed in America until 1987, held exhibitions
in San Francisco, New York, İstanbul and Paris.
He moved his
workshop to İstanbul in 1987 and held more than eighty personal exhibitions and
joined many group exhibitions. He produced short films and videos; he also
acted in some movies. He joined movement of Grassroot Operation which was
established to unite three social democratic political parties. He was elected
to the membership of Republican People's Party Assembly in the Party’s congress
in 1995 and he carried out his duty here for three years. He is a member of the
Association in Support of Contemporary Living, Atatürkist Thought Association
and the Plastic Arts Association (founder and second chairman for a term).
He
worked as a columnist in the newspapers and reviews Güneş, Tempo,
Siyah-Beyaz, Cumhuriyet, Aydınlık
and Akşam. Then he wrote political articles in the reviews such
as İleri and Türk-Solu and in the newspaper Cumhuriyet. He
produced and presented a cultural discussion program called ‘Dönemin Rengi’ (The Colour of the Period) on Prima
TV for three yearsand served as the head of the editorial board of the art
review Artist-Skala.
A retrospective exhibition of his 40 years of artistic adventure was held
in İstanbul in 1999. His life was filmed in a documentary with the title “This
Has Been Done Before” by the American director Stefan R. Svetiev a broad
monography of him was published by Boyut Publishing Group with the title of
“I’m Nothing But I’m Everything”.
WORKS:
NOVEL: Kemik (Bone,
2000).
RESEARCH: Boyanın
Beyni (The Brain of Paint,
1990), 27 Mayıs İlk Aşkımızdı (Our
First Love was 27 May, 1994), Mustafa Kemaller Görev Başına (Mustafa Kemals on Duty, 1994),
Ödünsüz Laik Türkiye (Secular Turkey without Any Concession,
1995), Maymunların Resim Yapma Hakkı
(The Rights of Monkeys to Paint,
in English, 1994; in Turkish, 1999), Geçici Anlar Kalıcı Tatlar (Temporary Moments, Lasting Tastes,
1996), Gözleri Hep Üzerimizde (His
Eyes Always Watching On Us, 1997), Dönemin Rengi (The Colour of the Period, 1997), 68'li Yıllar (The Years of 68's, 1998; with the
title "68'li Yıllar - Tanıklar" Years of 68's – Witnesses, 2000), Küba ve Binyılın Son
Süvarisi Che (Cuba and The Last
Cavalryman of the Millenium: Che, 2000), Geçici Anlar Kalıcı Tatlar (Temporary Moments, Lasting Tastes), Ordu Satranç Oynarken (While the Army Plays Chess, 2001), Ah
Abi İlhan'ı Bi Oynatsalardı (Oh
Man, If They Let İlhan Play, 2002), Binyıl Kırılması-Dün ve Yarın
Mercek Altında (The Crack of
Millenium – Yesterday and Tomorrow under Focus, 2002), Kemalizmin
Yeni Yüzyıla Köprüsü (The Bridge
of Kemalism to the New Century, 2004).
