Galeri Binyıl, which embraces a modern outlook while preserving tradition, continues the exhibitions of its special Binyilart Project with Tuğçe Çalımbay’s solo show “HIDDEN”.
Tuğçe Çalımbay’s exhibition will be open to art lovers at Galeri Binyıl & Urla Statera Vineyards from 8 February to 31 March 2026.
“HIDDEN”, the solo exhibition by Tuğçe Çalımbay, artist daughter of Rıza Çalımbay, one of the legends of Turkish football, invites viewers not merely to see but to look, to feel, to pause and to confront their own inner worlds.
Tuğçe Çalımbay: A Story of Confrontation Through Painting – “HIDDEN”
An exhibition not to be missed, part of Galeri Binyıl’s special Binyilart Project:
Tuğçe Çalımbay’s works, which explore the magical power and inwardness of nature, meet viewers through the concept of “HIDDEN”. The intertwining relationship between salt crystals and light blends with the natural atmosphere of a venue set within nature, offering a calm yet thought-provoking experience.
Art has always been an inseparable part of Çalımbay’s life. She has continued to express herself through paintings made in different techniques with materials such as acrylic and watercolour. In works created on a journey through her emotions and feelings, she has focused mainly on themes of nature and space, blending her knowledge of both design and art.
Conveying through art the light into which she was transformed after shedding every constraint in the cave of her inner journey – the relationship Tuğçe Çalımbay has built and feels with painting unfolds less as a passion than as the outcome of an inner experience and a confrontation. Turning inward rather than towards aesthetic concerns, the artist builds her work on a powerful union with repressed emotions and the subconscious.
The idea behind this creative story began in a narrow, dark and gloomy rocky passage she came across while on holiday. What at first seemed like an ordinary nature walk took on a different meaning a few steps later, with its darkness and silence. For Çalımbay it became not just a physical passage but an inner journey into her own depths, towards fears she had long run from, and then towards memories.
The sense of confinement and gloom felt while moving through the passage brought to the surface dreams that had lingered in her mind since childhood and a familiar feeling of helplessness. The experience did not merely create a space of fear; it turned into another phase altogether. It is precisely here that the artist’s paintings come into focus: facing fear, inner confinement and the traces of the transformation she underwent along the way become a powerful story.
The claustrophobic fear in Çalımbay’s paintings becomes even more pronounced through textures of stone and salt. While hard surfaces evoke a feeling of being trapped in her own cave, cool tones symbolise withdrawal, and cracks appearing in warm colours the desire for escape and transformation. The crystalline structure of salt represents frozen memories, while the hardness of stone stands for fear and helplessness.
A MEETING NOT TO BE MISSED;
Tuğçe Çalımbay’s solo exhibition “HIDDEN” can be visited at Galeri Binyıl & Urla Statera Vineyards from 8 February to 31 March 2026.
Tuğçe Çalımbay “ HIDDEN “
Dates: 8 February – 31 March 2026
Venue: G Statera Vineyards, Urla
Özbek Mah. 6115 Sok. N0;10 Urla / İzmir
Curator: İlknur Şanal – 0532 296 76 42
Art Director: Mehmet Arif Erdem – 0532 401 15 05
Galeri Binyıl
Rüştiye Sok. 24/1 Kalamış, Kadıköy, İstanbul
@binyilart | www.galeribinyil.com
Throughout 2026, alongside its permanent gallery space in Kalamış, Galeri Binyıl plans to stage art projects at a range of distinguished locations across Türkiye. Celebrating its 26th year in the art world, Galeri Binyıl is creating a distinctive experience that brings nature and art together in Urla, İzmir’s rising destination for culture and the arts. Curated by İlknur Şanal with art direction by Mehmet Arif Erdem, the exhibition is realised through a special curatorial approach that integrates with the architecture and natural texture of the venue.
Tuğçe Çalımbay
She was born in Istanbul in 1987. After graduating from FMV Ayazağa Işık High School, she studied Interior Architecture at Bahçeşehir University. In 2009 she took technical drawing and watercolour classes with architect Andrea Ponzi at Kent State University in Florence. The time she spent in Florence deepened her artistic vision and marked an important turning point in her practice.
After returning to Istanbul, she played an active role in design and implementation processes at various interior architecture practices. In time, she founded her own studio in order to express her creative language more freely. Taking a balanced approach that brings together aesthetics and functionality, she aims to turn spaces into powerful arenas of expression.
Galeri Binyıl
Run by its founder and curator İlknur Şanal and art director Mehmet Arif Erdem, Galeri Binyıl is celebrating its 26th year as an international art platform that has been shaping art since 1999.
Continuing on its way with the motto “A meeting point for innovative, creative and productive people”, Galeri Binyıl holds its exhibitions and events at its space in Kalamış, Istanbul.
By taking part in contemporary art fairs around the world, Galeri Binyıl helps promote Turkish and international artists on the global stage, and pursues its artistic journey with determination through exhibitions, talks and special events held at many major art centres in Türkiye and abroad.
