Biography
Born in Ankara in 1957, Baykam began painting at the age of two. From the age of six, his work was exhibited worldwide, including in Bern, Geneva, New York, Washington, Paris, Cannes, London, Rome, Munich, Stockholm, San Francisco, Havana, Kiev, and Berlin. He studied economics at the Sorbonne University and acting at L’Actorat. He also studied painting and film at the California College of Arts and Crafts. Between 1986 and 1993, he worked on printmaking at the Çamlıca Art House. A pioneer of the international New Expressionism movement that began in the 1980s, Baykam lived in America until 1987. Returning to Istanbul at that time, he has held 142 solo exhibitions to date, half of which were international, and participated in numerous biennials and countless group exhibitions. Since the 1980s, he has brought politics and eroticism into the contemporary art scene through large-scale multimedia exhibitions. Baykam, one of the founders of the International Association of Plastic Arts (IAA), affiliated with UNESCO, and currently the President of the Turkish National Committee of this organization, was also elected World President for a 4-year term at the 18th World Arts Associations General Assembly, an official partner of UNESCO, held in 2015. Baykam held this position until June 2020. He has written for numerous publications including Hürriyet Gösteri, Tempo, Siyah-Beyaz, Aydınlık, Genç Sanat, and Cumhuriyet, and is a former member of the CHP Party Council.
