Mehmet Ali Uysal: Skin - Pi Artworks

Key Information

Location: 6 Perseverance Works, E2 7NX
Dates: Jun 05 2026 - Jul 31 2026
Regular Opening Hours: Tue-Sat 12-6pm
Artist/s: Mehmet Ali Uysal
https://www.piartworks.com/exhibitions/235-mehmet-ali-uysal-skin/

About Mehmet Ali Uysal (b. 1976, Mersin- TR) lives and works in Paris. He is an internationally recognised sculptor working across sculpture, installation, and public space. Originally trained in architecture and urban planning at Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Uysal later completed a PhD in sculpture at Hacettepe University and participated in an exchange programme at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Art de Bourges in France. His practice is shaped by both architectural thinking and physical intervention. Uysal is best known for his Skin series, in which walls, buildings, and ground surfaces appear stretched, compressed, pinched, or displaced through subtle sculptural gestures. Large-scale iterations of the series have been realised internationally, including a major commission for Umeå European Capital of Culture 2014, alongside projects and exhibitions across Europe, the United States, Mexico, Taiwan, Vietnam, China, and the UAE. Recent solo exhibitions include SU at Le Bon Marché, Paris (2022); Life is Beautiful, Pi Artworks Istanbul (2023). His works are held in numerous public and private collections, including the City of Umeå Public Collection, Sweden; the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi; the Samdani Art Foundation, Bangladesh; the Vehbi Koç Foundation, Istanbul; and the Allianz Collection, Istanbul, Arter Museum, Istanbul, Paris Municipality, Paris

Introduction

“Pi Artworks announces the opening of its new Shoreditch gallery with Skin, a solo exhibition by Paris-based artist Mehmet Ali Uysal, presented in alignment with London Gallery Weekend. Following thirteen years at 55 Eastcastle Street in Fitzrovia, the move marks a significant new phase for the gallery, expanding into a larger two- floor industrial building at Perseverance Works in East London. Defined by pitched ceilings and exposed wooden trusses, the new space reflects Pi Artworks’ focus on ambitious installation-based practices, interdisciplinary production, and expanded public programming.

Occupying the first floor of the building, Skin presents a new selection of works from Uysal’s internationally recognised series investigating architecture, perception, and the physical limits of built space. Working across sculpture and site-responsive installation, Uysal approaches walls, ground, and urban structures as if they were living surfaces — stretched, compressed, pierced, displaced, or held under tension. Through minimal yet precise interventions, familiar architectural elements appear unstable, elastic, or physically responsive, subtly disrupting the viewer’s relationship to space.

Originally trained in architecture and urban planning before completing a PhD in sculpture, Uysal’s practice is shaped by both architectural thinking and physical intervention. His works frequently emerge directly from the material and psychological conditions of their sites, transforming architecture into something bodily, vulnerable, and strangely animate. “The wall is not only something that divides space,” Uysal has noted, “it is also a surface carrying memory, pressure, and traces of human presence.” Large-scale iterations of the Skin series have been presented internationally including a major public commission for Umeå European Capital of Culture 2014 and recent large- scale installations in Paris, alongside public projects across Europe, the United States, Mexico, Taiwan, Vietnam, and the UAE. ”

Installation View, Mehmet Ali Uysal: Skin. Pi Artworks, London, 2026.