Ian Berry exhibits in Turkey for the first time

For the first time, renowned denim artist Ian Berry is exhibiting in Turkey. The show “Beyond Denim” opened its doors at the beautiful art centre Kalyon Kültür in the Şişli neighbourhood of Istanbul and will be on view until February 2025. The exhibition consists of some the artist’s most known works as well as those especially prepared for the exhibition space.

“It was a city I never had any intension at all at showing in, in truth, 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,” comments Berry in an email to FashionUnited.

“It has been one of the biggest turnarounds ever and I found the Turkish people so friendly, kind, and so happy to share their thoughts,” adds Berry.

His reluctance to come to Turkey stems from the fact that over the course of his almost 20-year career, there have been many copy cats, quite a few from the country - artists who have tried to emulate his style and work with denim but without his many years of experience.

“I’ve had many copies from Turkey, and for commercial purposes too. I’ll be honest, I let a few people around the trade fair circuit taint my opinion [of the country]. It has been a great lesson and now I know some amazing people in the country,” states Berry.

The exhibition has been treated as a bit of a retrospective, with works spread out over multiple rooms to show Berry’s different periods, including works like “Behind Closed Doors”, “Hotel California” and “Denim Legends”. There is also a version of “Secret Garden”, supported by AGI Denim, that has been beautifully integrated into the unique setting.

Berry has shown many versions of “Secret Garden” around the world, which always differ. The one in Istanbul has a pond with koi fish and water lilies and somehow Berry managed to create a tiled wall in Delft style and a bouquet of flowers that looks like it shines.

There is also a new piece that shows the connections between the various Chinese zodiac signs and the compatibility between them.

“We are honoured to continue being the appointed denim and finishing technology partner for Ian Berry’s art. If Ian’s work were love letters to denim, our materials would be the pen and paper he wrote them with,” commented Henry Wong, AGI Denim’s vice president of marketing and product development.

“Beyond Denim" will officially run until 14th February 2025 but according to rumours, may get extended due to its already overwhelming success.