Ali Alışır was born in Istanbul in 1978. His art education began in 1996 upon being awarded a scholarship by the Faculty of Fine Arts from the University of Yeditepe. He obtained his master’s degree in photography from the Accademia Italiana in Florence, where he majored in digital editing. Ali Alışır’s past exhibitions “Virtual Bodies”, “Virtual Places”, “Virtual Wars” and “Virtual Landscapes”, explored the desperation and helplessness experienced by individuals in a world of constant media overload. These exhibitions examined more closely the virtual and artificial worlds that are created in response to the digital age.

“Melez Ruhlar” will be Ali Alışır’s first exhibition in North America, also known as “Hybrid Souls”. This ongoing photographic series focuses on the collective stress experienced by contemporary culture. Here, Alışır’s subjects attempt to achieve peace, despite being ensnared by the complexity and haste of modern life. The artist aims to reflect inner conflict in physical movement. His hybrid bodies melt into one another with such precipitousness, making it impossible to focus on one individual subject. Subsequently, by superimposing layers of human bodies, Alışır seeks to examine the societal issues that manifest in many different forms and through various fields, such as philosophy, sociology, literature, and cinema. Alışır’s hybrid human bodies all struggle separately yet together, creating a kind of chaotic harmony in defiance of the complexities of modern day life.

Ali Alışır’s works are exhibited in many private and public collections, including Istanbul Modern Art Museum, the Presidential Palace of the Republic of Turkey, and 94 embassies in the world.