Nafi Çil was born in 1939 in Kula. His family moved to İzmir while he was two years old, and he completed his primary, secondary, and high school education there. His art education began during his middle school years. He was especially motivated when his talent found an echo as a student of painter Sadık Renkler and with the awards he received in those years. As a teenager he decided to become an artist. However, after graduating from İzmir Atatürk High School in 1957, he studied architecture at the Istanbul Academy of Fine Arts, from which he graduated in 1967 as an architect with a Master of Art degree.
During his years at the Academy, he also attended the sculpture studio led by Şadi Çalık, who was one of Turkey’s pioneering figures in contemporary sculpture, which left a lasting impression on him. The influence of these studies can be traced in the figures and his overall approach to form in his paintings.
In 1967, he joined the Akatünvel Art Group founded by Süleyman Velioğlu, Tangül and Tamer Akakıncı-and to which later Belma Artut, Jülide Atılmaz, Ulu Sungu, and Güven Zeyrek also joined; and Çil decided to pursue a life as both an architect and a painter. In 1969, he settled in İzmir, returning as the lead architect for a project. He opened his first solo exhibition in 1971 at the İzmir French Cultural Center.
From 1980 to 2005, he used part of his Architecture Office in Alsancak as a painting studio and increasingly devoted himself to painting. The office also became a regular meeting point where many artists gathered to discuss their work and the contemporary art agenda. Since 2006, he has been continueing his artistic practice in his studios in Küçükyalı and Urla in İzmir.
To date, Nafi Çil has held 27 solo exhibitions and participated in 23 group shows. In addition to works held in private collections, his paintings are included in the collections of the Ankara State Museum of Painting and Sculpture, the Eskişehir Anadolu University Museum of Contemporary Art, the Ege University Cultural Center, and the İş Bankası Museum of Painting and Sculpture.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1971
26 April – 4 May, İzmir French Cultural Center
1978
26 April – 5 May, İzmir French Cultural Center
1980
17 – 25 April, İzmir Çil Art and Cultural Center Opening
1981
20 April – 8 May, Ankara İş – Sanat Gallery
1983
16 – 31 December, İzmir İş – Sanat Gallery
1984
2 – 13 July, Bodrum Underwater Archaeology Museum
6 – 31 October, İstanbul Destek Art Gallery
1985
2 – 30 April, Ankara Vakko Art Gallery
1990
4 February – 2 March, İzmir İş – Sanat Gallery
1992
8 – 30 December, İzmir Turkish American Association
1993
20 December 1992 – 10 January 1993, İzmir Beymen Art Gallery
14 April – 5 May, Ankara Desti Art Gallery
1994
14 April – 5 May, İzmir Mazhar Zorlu Art Gallery
1997
20 January – 20 February, İzmir Başak Insurance Art Gallery
1998
26 May – 26 June, İstanbul Çil Art and Cultural Center Opening
20 October – 10 November, İzmir Vakko Art Gallery
1 – 21 December, Ankara Vakko Art Gallery
1999
26 January – 22 February, İstanbul Vakko Beyoğlu Art Gallery
2003
8 – 27 January, İzmir İletişim Bookstore Gallery
2010
12 – 30 April, İzmir Atatürk Cultural Center
2012
8 February – 4 March, İzmir Atmosfer Art Gallery
2013
14 – 31 August, Ayvalık Municipality Foyer Art Gallery
2014
23 April – 31 May, İzmir Küçükyalı Çil Art Center
11 – 26 December, İzmir Kedi Art Gallery
2015
11 February – 23 May, İzmir Küçükyalı Çil Art Center
3 – 21 March, İzmir Chamber of Architects
10 December 2015 – 14 January 2016, İzmir Türkan Saylan Cultural Center
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
1974
İzmir Painting and Sculpture Museum, Group Exhibition of İzmir Artists 1
1980
16 – 31 December, İzmir İş – Sanat
1981
30 March – 17 April, İzmir İş – Sanat, within the Akatünvel Art Group
1986
14 – 28 February, İzmir Atatürk Cultural Center, with Güven Zeyrek
1990
30 January – 14 February, İstanbul Atatürk Cultural Center, within the Akatünvel Art Group
13 February – 2 March, İzmir İş Bankası Art Gallery, İstanbul State Academy of Fine Arts Alumni Exhibition
19 April – 15 May, Ankara Galeri Selvin Kavaklıdere, with Güven Zeyrek
1992
16 May – 16 June, İstanbul Minyatür Art Gallery; with Cavit Atmaca, Aynur Okay, Yavuz Seçkin, Umur Türker, Güven Zeyrek
1998
21 October – 7 November, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Art Gallery, Republic Exhibition
11 – 20 December, Paris Espace Eiffel – Branly, Grands et Jeunes d'aujourd'hui, within the Akatünvel Art Group
2000
17 October – 7 November, İstanbul Atatürk Cultural Center, Akatünvel Group Exhibition
4 – 30 December, İzfaş Art Gallery; with Güven Zeyrek, Canan Şahin, and Zuhal Tokatlıoğlu
2001
22 October – 9 November, İzmir Başak Insurance Art Gallery, with Canan Şahin
25 October – 24 November, İzmir Konak Municipality Art Gallery, “Respect to Atatürk” Exhibition
2002
24 October – 18 November, Konak Municipality Art Gallery, “Respect to Atatürk” Exhibition
2003
16 October – 11 November, Konak Municipality Art Gallery, “Respect to Atatürk” Exhibition
2004
13 – 30 January, İzmir Adnanlar Art Gallery, with Canan Şahin
2 – 14 March, Aydın Painting and Sculpture Museum Art Gallery, with Canan Şahin
2010
14 – 28 May, Anadolu University Faculty of Fine Arts; with Güven Zeyrek, Bülent Özkan, Figen Yeşilpınar, and Canan Akıntürk-Şahin
2013
26 February – 20 March, İstanbul Galeri Espas by Ahmet Yaşar, with Nazan Kuşçu
2016
14 October – 23 November, İzmir Mahal Bomonti, with Güven Zeyrek and Ozan Ünal
2017
16 May – 10 June, İzmir Chamber of Architects, with Figen Yeşilpınar and Engin Dirikal
2024
15 March – 15 April, İzmir Bonvivant, Group Exhibition of Architect-Painters