Ian Berry’s Exhibition At Kalyon Kültür
It’s the first exhibition in Turkey by the internationally renowned British artist Ian Berry who creates his art with only denim. His expo ‘Beyond Denim’ opened its doors at Kalyon Kültür, which consists of some the most special works of the artists near twenty-year career as well as the works he prepared for Kalyon Kültür, will host its visitors until February 14, 2025.
The Expo Was All Over The TV Channels
Ian Berry is an artist who if you are in and around the denim industry would have been hard to miss, even if he doesn’t show at trade shows his presence and influence on the industry have been hard to miss. And if you are a regular visitor to Long John, I’ve been featuring him for many years. And a regular on lists of influential people like WeAr Top 100 and Rivet 50. It is now the same in Istanbul where his impact has been seen everywhere with posters all over the city, billboards greeting visitors to the airport, and all over the national Turkish press.
”I’ve had some incredible times all over the world, but this is getting up there as one of the best experiences and the energy around the show is so good. It opened with a day of back to back interviews and it was crazy. It was all over the TV channels and many articles in the press and I’ve had that before, but one thing I have really noticed on this show is the use of Instagram. I’m getting so many posts and stories each day and it really helps with the after opening ‘downer’ after traveling away from the show. The comments are just incredible.”
The Museums Records Attendance
Ian Berry, who opened a large museum show at Museum Rijswijk here in the Netherlands during Covid, where I got to see many of his works in real life. I was lucky enough to see the details and quality of the works, and the TV commercials for the show! Most of the Dutch denim industry were there to support, but it also turned out to be the museums record attendance.
Ian Berry added: ”I remember going home to the UK and…quarantine. I got the after-show lull after the great start and I remember later speaking to the museum. I’d got the impression it wasn’t going too well as I was home and not hearing much. There may be one or two posts on Instagram a day and I thought no one was going, and then I was told it was sold out every day! It was a big lesson in life, and I’ve always had a better life than on social media, but now in Istanbul it’s been incredible to see the photos and the get the private messages about the work and they are getting more, not less, each day.”
Turkey Is A Big Player In The Denim Industry
The exhibition in Istanbul will have a long run and there are rumours of an extension. It gives a chance for many to see the work. Turkey is a big player in the denim industry and many of our friends there have already been to the show.
”To be honest, it was a city I never had any intension at all at showing in, but Kalyon Kültür approached me and said ‘we’d love to introduce art lovers in Istanbul to the original guy who worked with denim’ and it intrigued me, we spoke more and I visited and saw they create not just exhibitions but the ability to have fun shows and create a lot around it, they have lots of visitors and yes, I saw they get a lot of attention so I thought, let’s do this and I have no regrets. It has been one of the biggest turnarounds ever and found the Turkish people so friendly, kind, and so happy to show their thoughts.”
It has been treated as a bit of a retrospective of the artists long career with work spread out over multiple rooms which helps curate a show of Ian Berry’s different periods of working with denim with pieces from Behind Closed Doors, Hotel California, Denim Legends which asks the Istanbul audience who is their denim legend, and an incredible version of the Secret Garden.
Collaborating With AGI Denim
He worked once again with AGI Denim to help create this garden and it looks fantastic. And while he has shown many around the world it always differs and now it has a pond with koi fish and water lilies. And somehow, he has managed to make a tiled wall, that looks like a deft style with a bouquet of flowers and looks like it shines. There is also a new piece where he shows the connections between the various Chinese Zodiac signs about the compatibility.
All the images in the article are made by Kalyon Kültür and provided by Ian Berry.
Ian Berry, The Pioneer
Ian Berry opened the show with speeches where he described his long career and how he started working with denim. ”When I started there was nothing out there. I had to teach myself how to use the material and it took some time. There was no ‘dummies guide’ to denim art.” And the curator Asli Bora introduced him as the ‘pioneer’ to the invited VIP guests.
More info of the expo can be seen here: www.kalyonkultur.org/tr/sergiler/denim-otesi-ian-berry
