Alkan Avcıoğlu

2025 RECAP 🧵 Looking back, this year has felt like a dream. So many things came together, and my work found its way into places I once only imagined. • My work Liquid Modernity was exhibited and auctioned at Christie’s, as part of their inaugural AI art auction. • I won Claire Silver’s AI Contest with my work Dromological. • I collaborated with world-renowned photographer Edward Burtynsky, one of the most influential artists of our time. We presented a solo exhibition of our Hypertopographics series at Heft Gallery, New York, later shown at Contemporary Istanbul and lastly at Paris Photo. • My work is featured in Dopamine at Le Cube Garges, Paris. A major institutional exhibition running until July 18, 2026, presented as part of Némo Biennale 2025, the International Biennale of Digital Arts. • Work from my previous collections continued to be exhibited internationally, from Shanghai to New York’s Times Square, my work was featured in many exhibitions across galleries and public spaces. • A defining chapter of the year was my AI generated feature documentary film Post Truth: - It became the first AI feature film in cinema history to secure a theatrical release. The theatrical deal was reported by Deadline Hollywood. - The film had its international premiere at Warsaw Film Festival, one of the only 14 A-list festivals in the world accredited by FIAPF. Variety announced the international debut. - The film subsequently screened at long-established festivals, including the 66th Festival dei Popoli, the oldest documentary festival in Europe, and the 62nd International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, the longest-running festival in Turkey. - It received overwhelmingly positive reviews from professional critics in Turkey, Poland, and Italy. - The film lastly won the Audience Award at FrontDoc International Film Festival. • This year marked key milestones for our AI production company, Spongeworthy Studio: With Post Truth becoming a theatrically released, critically acclaimed film, while @VikkiBardot's short film Dreamt by Another, screened at over 20 festivals before being acquired by MUBI. • The soundtrack album of Post Truth was released in December via Tamar Records on vinyl, CD, and digital platforms. • Much of the year was focused on moving conversations around AI and art beyond online spaces, into wider public and cultural contexts. • From Paris Photo to international film festivals, I spent much of the year on panels and public discussions, contributing to the conversation around AI and art beyond Web3. • I was featured in major outlets, from The Observer to CNN Türk, and gave over 25 interviews across print, online, and television. • A curated image gallery of my work circulated widely across mainstream platforms, including Bored Panda, MSN, and AOL. • The year included several auctions, highlights including: – Hypertopographics #1 sold for $18,000 via Heft Gallery, New York. – Earth Misread sold for $8,100 via Asprey Studio Gallery, London. – Liquid Modernity sold for $5,040 via Christie’s, New York. I don’t take any of this lightly. This year raised the bar for what the work demands next. A key part of this year was seeing my AI-generated work move beyond online spaces and enter real-world galleries, institutions, cinemas, and publications. My interviews followed a wild path: I started the year talking about AI and photography around the Christie’s exhibition, moved into AI and filmmaking with Post Truth, and ended up discussing AI and music through the soundtrack. I’m genuinely grateful for every step along the way, and for the seriousness with which all my work has been received. New exhibitions are confirmed for the coming year, with several new projects set to be released. Major announcements are on the way. 2026 is shaping up to be an exciting one.

Three years ago, I had zero exhibitions. Zero. In only three years, I've now had over 25 international group exhibitions, two big solo shows, and participated in three biennales. My work has been exhibited in museums, in iconic galleries, featured in Christie's auction, and presented at art fairs from Art Basel Miami and Paris Photo to Zona Maco, Contemporary Istanbul, and PhotoVogue. While my AI-generated feature film has been selected for 32 international film festivals and won more than five awards. And now next week, I'll be presenting my first solo booth at Paris Photo. It's been an extraordinary three years. But it's only the start.

Apparently, we're staging a little AI art invasion of Germany this week. Through exhibitions, films, and panel discussions, we're contributing to the growing recognition of AI art across multiple cultural and institutional fronts. At 36th FilmFestival Cottbus, our new feature production A Woman Asleep is competing in the Main Competition, while Post Truth is having its German premiere. @VikkiBardot and I are also speaking at two panels on AI filmmaking, including one at Connecting Cottbus, the festival's industry platform. Meanwhile, my works are on view in two international exhibitions: On Landscape at Haus am Lützowplatz in Berlin and Tell Me Where Home Is at Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg.

"If photography is no longer solely responsible for creating a believable image of the world, artists will inevitably begin to use it differently."

I'm pleased to share that my solo exhibition The Death of the Camera at Maçka Art Gallery in Istanbul has been extended until November 14 following the strong public demand. Featuring 20 large-scale works, the exhibition has attracted positive reviews and considerable media attention. What has been especially rewarding is receiving messages from visitors every day, many describing it as one of the most unique exhibitions they've seen in years. I couldn't be happier with the response. The exhibition can be visited until November 14, Tuesday through Saturday, from 12:00 to 19:00, at Maçka Art Gallery, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.