LES BENJAMINS
IN-STORE. OUT OF THIS WORLD.
A solo exhibition celebrating maximalist artist Altin Tatli
hosted in parallel with the 17th Istanbul Biennale
With a long-standing relationship between the Istanbul brand and its artistic collaborators—which included Daniel Arsham and Ali Cha Aban—Les Benjamins now announces a new creative partnership with multi-disciplinary Turkish artist Altın Tatli.
Housed in the brand’s Nisantasi outpost, a one-day exhibition entitled ‘DAZED HEROES’ will run parallel to the 17th Istanbul Biennale. Curated by OH! Art Agency and Altin Tatli, a close friend of the brand, the exhibition also serves as a prelude to a collaborative collection that will launch in October.
Through a series of ink drawings, watercolor paintings, 3D printed sculptural figurines and oil paintings, notions of intimacy and connection are explored through Altın’s maximalist prism. Having exhibited their work from Boston to Venice Biennale, Altın Tatli says “I feel like I am popping up at a friend’s space like a lamp-genie for two days to do my spectacles while here at Les Benjamins Nişantaşı”.
“This series of works aims to help us understand Us, the Dazed Heroes.
Planets and their archetypes represent our inner heroes as we grow in our life journey. As we push the rock to the pinnacle, it gets steeper and harder to lift life up. We encounter challenges on our way, but it is up to us to observe, learn, and overcome them.”
Portrait of the Self
Artist: Altin Tatli
Medium: oil on canvas
Size:150 x 170 cm / 59 x 67 in
Edition: one of a kind
Altin Tatli
Maximalist Artist
Altın Tatlı (Golden Sweet) is an artist living and creating in Istanbul,Turkey. Altin received a double-major BFA in painting and animation from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston in 2014. As a maximalist artist, they use many forms of art to invite us into their universe. Starting their artistic journey as a painter, Altin’s practice has expanded to include animation, illustration, photography, film directing, and art direction to express their artistic vision.
Following their studies abroad, Altin returned to Istanbul where they encountered the discreet drag scene. Influenced by the underground culture, they create and perform invented personas, characterized through costumes, make-up, and attitude. Using their body as a canvas to perform a moving image in an arena outside of the studio, they exhibit their multi–dimensional characters in public, on social media, and in editorial fashion photography shoots.
“Oh! Art Agency has been extremely helpful, insightful, and engaging throughout our work together. All of our collaborations have been flawless, and uplifting, and helped me to succeed as an artist.
Oh! helped organize my first solo exhibition, and stepped in to protect my rights as an artist. This was especially important during the negotiation processes to make sure I was profiting as an artist. Over the years Oh! helped me showcase in museums, big venues, and events. After finding Oh! Art Agency, I asked to be one of the represented artists immediately.”
ALTIN TATLI
Artist
A vision of the contemporary East
Les Benjamins is an Istanbul-based platform - encompassing a retail-space and lifestyle brand for men and women - founded in 2011 by Bünyamin Aydin. Les Benjamins' apparel collections are currently stocked globally in doors like Harvey Nichols, Antonioli, Saks 5th Avenue and more. Les Benjamins started humbly with 30 printed T-shirts, a project which later garnered Aydin an invitation to Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Istanbul, and later Milan Fashion Week. Les Benjamins represents a vision of the contemporary East. "We are a platform of how we want the East to be today," notes Aydin. Les Benjamins' rangefinder logo speaks to perspective, and how the brand interprets the East from a unique point-of-view.
Connecting the West and the new East
Bridging the gap between the IRL & URL art experience, art lovers from East to West are welcome to explore and collect artworks from the exhibition in-store and online in the virtual gallery.
LES PRESS
“Art inspires me as a fashion designer, but I also think that we, fashion designers, inspire art. It gives us happiness to share the power of Les Benjamins with future talents. I think Altin Tatli is a name that should be highly appreciated both in Turkey and globally. Artists like Altin Tatli should appear in the world and we, Les Benjamins, want to support this.”
Bünyamin Aydın
Les Benjamins Founder and Creative Director
“Istanbul-based luxury streetwear brand Les Benjamins is adding a new one to its collaborations that support art, including Daniel Arsham and Ali Cha Aban, with the Altin Tatli exhibition. Blending stories, cultures and traditions in their designs and reflecting them to today's street fashion, Les Benjamins is announcing a new creative partnership with the multi-disciplinary Turkish artist Altın Tatlı.”
“Altın Tatlı and Les Benjamins family have created a friendly environment where art lovers and collectors have fun and celebrate works together, away from the plain and white gallery environments where people do not know how to behave.”
OPENING NIGHT
In the mix of celebrating the start of the 17th annual Istanbul Biennale, Les Benjamins’ flagship store in Nişantaşı became the epicenter of a new vibrant art scene. An eclectic crowd of collectors, celebrities, influencers, art enthusiasts, magazine editors, journalists, museum directors and gallery curators from the world along with the best emerging and established contemporary artists gathered for the opening of ‘Dazed Heros’.
The internet’s favorite art show
IN COLLABORATION
Artist - Altin Tatli
Co-Founders - Bünyamin Aydin & Lamia Aydin
PR Director - Zohaer Majhadi
Marketing Director - Gökçe Gürpınar
Senior Studio Director - Sedef Sunay
Head of Media Production - Ceren Sonmez
Marketing Executive - Selcen Akay
Marketing & PR Assistant - Ela Gedikoglu
Curator - Olivia Ives-Flores
Photo Credit - Azel Seçkin, BULATAGRAMM, les benjamins
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
