İbrahim Balaban

Following his release from prison in 1950, Balaban spent two years in Istanbul, where he opened his first personal exhibition in 1953. Early in his career, Balaban encountered fierce criticism from established art circle, which consisted of formally educated artists and critics. Their reactions were often derisory and bordered on a classist tendency, on the basis that an uneducated peasant had no place in Turkish art. Nevertheless, he has presented more than 2,000 pieces in more than 50 expositions to date. He is also the author of 11 books.

In 1937 at the age of 16, Balaban was sentenced to six months in Bursa Prison and payment of a fine for growing cannabis, a crime he allegedly did not commit. His sentence was increased to three years in prison because he was unable to pay the fine. He jobbed in the prison as a barber to earn money. After serving his first prison term, he was convicted a second time on the charge of murdering a former fellow inmate, who was his accomplice from his alleged first conviction as well as a rival in love for his first wife, Fadime. Balaban was sent to the prison island İmralı, where he served until 1947. He was then transferred back to Bursa Prison. In 1950, Balaban was released through a general amnesty. Following the 1960 Turkish coup d'état, he was jailed for six months during the military junta rule in 1961, this time for the political character of his paintings.

İbrahim Balaban (1 January 1921 – 9 June 2019) was a Turkish painter.

He was born at Seçköy village of Osmangazi district in Bursa Province in 1921. His parents did not allow him to pursue further education after he completed the only three-grade primary school in the village. Balaban protested his parents' decision by refusing to work. He kept himself busy with writing and drawing until the age of 15.