This sentence captures not only Nafi Çil’s professional identity but also his philosophy of life. Born in 1939 in Kula and devoting his entire career to creation in İzmir, Çil carries both the precision of architecture and the intuition of painting within the same body. For him, painting is not merely a form of expression but the patiently carved state of existence itself.

His artistic journey, stretching from the 1970s to today, has grown into a memory archive far too deep to be contained within the walls of a single studio-808 works that trace a lifetime. Of these, 570 remain in the artist’s studio, while the rest reside in various collections, quietly telling their own stories. Each work begins at a moment in time and may be revisited years later, for Çil never considers a painting a finished entity; it is, instead, a living process.
“Every trace is a form of remembering.”

In his practice, “material” is not merely a tool but the texture of thought itself. He is uneasy with the movement of canvas; he seeks stability. This is why he creates most of his works on thick painting papers, mounting them onto hardboard or water-resistant plywood. Beneath the layers of paint lie newspaper sheets soaked in thinner, and surfaces scraped with razor blades-marks that become a texture belonging to time itself. Every trace is a form of remembering.

Çil’s paintings are, at their core, architectural-not in the form of walls, stones, arches, or windows, but through the silence of space, the organization of void, and the weight of color. The quiet realm between figuration and abstraction is the heart of his art. He speaks to the viewer not from the structure itself, but from the emotion that structure carries.



SOLO EXHIBITION
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 Exhibition
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 Exhibition
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, Akatünvel Group Exhibition
1986
14 – 28 February, İzmir Atatürk Cultural Center, with Güven Zeyrek
1990
30 January – 14 February, İstanbul Atatürk Cultural Center, Akatünvel Group Exhibition
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 Group Exhibition
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