Sabrina Amrani

:mentalKLINIK is a Brussels-based artist duo from Istanbul composed of Yasemin Baydar and Birol Demir who began their collaborative practice in 1998. The duo has an open laboratory approach to process, production, roles, conception and presentation. This vocabulary gives their work a relationship with different references and background. Their work is a mix of oxymora and paradoxes, darkly humorous, self-contained and as much concerned with the total effect of accelerated capitalism as with the invisible politics and dynamics that define our everyday lives. :mentalKLINIK’s oeuvre is droll and can look very playful and fun but at the same time, it is violent, abrasive and very questioning of the world we live in. Eschewing themes of identity, history and memory, their works range from immersive time based installations to sculptures and objects that thwart categorization.

In 2020, :mentalKLINIK has exhibited with a solo show titled Bitter Medicine #01 Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade, curated by Carl de Smedt, and the second iteration of it at the Borusan Contemporary, Istanbul, Turkey. Some of their internationally renowned exhibitions include: Tomorrow Now at MUDAM, Luxembourg in 2007; PuFF at Art Basel 40 (2009), Art Unlimited, Switzerland; and solo museum shows such as Fresh- Cut (2013) at MAK, Vienna and Co-operation Would be Highly Appreciated (2015) at SCAD Museum Georgia, USA. In the Summer 2021 :mentalKLINIK will present their first solo exhibition in Madrid at Sabrina Amrani.

Sabrina Amrani opened her eponymous gallery based in Madrid, Spain, in June 2011. French of Algerian origin, she was raised in a mix of cultures, traditions and habits that are common grounds to most artists she works with. The gallery represents artists across East and West, eliminating cultural gaps and promoting a dialogue exchange and intellectual growth through it. The distinctive signs of Sabrina Amrani Gallery are proposals that invite to think about the society and the individual: Socio-political issues, identity, space, architecture, … and the discovery of talented artists all around the world to share their work to a global audience, therefore stating its will to become an international cultural agent. Although the gallery represents emergent and established artists of any nationality, the project pays particular attention to the new voices that are emerging in the Global South. The gallery regularly organizes and participates in not-for-profit activities such as screenings, workshops, education programs, public lectures and panel talks with prominent and relevant names in its space, or outside its walls in collaboration with various institutions and art organizations. In January 2019, the gallery inaugurated a 600 sqm second space in Madrid, in Calle Sallaberry 52.