İlhami Atalay was born on October 17, 1948, in the Arhavi district of Artvin, as the son of a family of Laz origin. Atalay, who was interested in painting from an early age, picked up his first brush in primary school. After completing his education in Artvin, some developments he experienced in Istanbul, where he went to university, became a turning point in his artistic journey.
He had to return without enrolling because his father was against art education, but a year later he secretly enrolled in the painting department of the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts, saying he would study architecture. He completed his successful education here in 1972 with first place.
Looking for an opportunity to develop his art abroad, Atalay won a scholarship from the Berlin University of Arts, and was also accepted for his work "Civil War", inspired by a work by Yunus Emre. Between 1973 and 1978, he specialized in tapestries and painting at two different academies in Germany. During his education, he worked on textile objects, paintings and tapestries during his research trips to France, Spain, Switzerland and England.
After returning to Turkey in 1978, he worked as a designer at Sümerbank for a short time, and then continued as a freelance carpet designer. In Istanbul, where he settled in 1983, he ran the art gallery bearing his name for 18 years and won the admiration of world art lovers with the more than fifty exhibitions he prepared during this period. His works attracted the attention of collectors in 23 different countries.
The art of painting, shaped by Atalay from a dynamic and contemporary perspective, also had an impact on the Chinese artist Zhang Quinyuan. He was deemed worthy of the Necip Fazıl Respect Award in 2022 for his unique contributions to the art world. A year later, he was honored by receiving the Turkish Presidential Culture and Arts Grand Prize.
The painter's three children are also involved in art, like himself, and it is seen that art is passed down from generation to generation in this family.
The works bearing the name of İlhami Atalay, who has won many awards and exhibitions throughout his career, received second place in the Artvin High School Painting Competition in 1963 and an honorable mention in the Academy Drawing Competition in 1969. In 1970, he won the silver medal in the Ahmet Andiçen competition and the first prize in the Cevat Dereli Workshop.
The artist, who also received the Can İren award in the same year, participated in the group exhibition called "Brain Machine" at the City Gallery in 1971. In addition to participating abroad in the Berlin Art Festivals (1975-78) and the International Art Festival in Monte Carlo, he opened the "Movement and Time" exhibition at the Istanbul State Fine Arts Gallery in 1978.
Some of Atalay's works, which took part in various biennials and group exhibitions throughout his artistic life, were also included in the state collections.
