İbrahim Balaban Click for Artist Information

İbrahim Balaban

İBRAHİM BALABAN (1921 - 2019)

He was born in Bursa in 1921. He studied at the primary school of the village where he was born, but did not receive any other education. He met Nazım Hikmet in Bursa prison, and thanks to his support and interest, his painting talent emerged and developed. In addition to painting, he acquired practical knowledge in philosophy, sociology, and economics and politics in prison. In addition to his painting works, he also has 11 published books. He is a painter who produces social realistic works based on the lives of Anatolian people and folk legends. Balaban divides his artistic life into periods such as Messy, Embroidered, Slow, Toyish, Prisoner and Freedom. The artist, who initially depicted the poverty of village life and peasant means of production, gradually turned to epics, folk beliefs, heroes, legends and mythology. It deals with the increasing migration to the city, the struggle for life and democracy in the city. Recently, he has been painting Anatolian Saints and Mothers of Fertility.

In addition to what has been said, Balaban opened his first personal exhibition in Istanbul in 1953. He has participated in more than 50 solo exhibitions and many group exhibitions, producing more than 2,000 paintings and several times that many designs. The artist, whose works were exhibited in many countries, passed away in 2019.