:mentalKLINIK is a Brussels-based artist duo from Istanbul composed of Yasemin Baydar & Birol Demir who began their collaborative practice in 1998.
:mentalKLINIK strides with undisguised dexterity the invisible political strategies and the social dynamics by ultra-contemporary devices of an apparent lightness. Like a discoball, :mentalKLINIK shows are a selection of their multifaceted approach on their universe. Resisting to the limitations of a single vocabulary or style, their world is a playful one full of hedonistic appeal which can be experienced as festive and glamourous but also surprising as one approaches to discover with a closer view an underlying violence suggestive of a bad trip after party or a creepy beginning of the end.
:mentalKLINIK’s experimental approach has been praised on numerous international exhibitions including Bitter Medicine#01, Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade (curator: Carl de Smet) (2020); Bitter Medicine#02, Borusan Contemporary, Istanbul (curator: Necmi Sönmez) (2020); FreshCut, MAK, Vienna (curator: Marlies Wirth) (2013); and Co-operation Would be Highly Appreciated, SCAD Museum, Savannah (curator: Storm Janse van Rensburg) (2015). They have participated in numerous international exhibitions including Istanbul Modern- Rotterdam Boijmans van Beuningen Museum (2012); Izmir Triennial of Contemporary Art, Izmir (2010); and Tomorrow, Now, MUDAM, Luxembourg (2007). They opened an introspective at La Patinoire Royale, Brussels in 2018 (curator: Jerome Sans). They have had two major solo shows at Galerist, Istanbul titled That’s Fucking Awesome (curator: Jerome Sans) (2011) and rABBIThOLE (2009); and a solo show at Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde Thank You For your Cooperation (2014), a solo show in Belgrade in 2018 titled Catastrophically Gorgeous at Eugster II Belgrade (curator: Yasmina Reggad).